Untouchable
by TheSyndra
Summary: Anna finally finds the strength to leave her abusive relationship and she seeks solace in the one person that just might be more broken than she is- Elsa Snow. [TW: Abuse] Eventual unrelated Elsanna. Modern AU.
1. Clumsy

Everything good in Anna's life seemed to be immediately followed by the worst combination of bad luck and unfortunate events. Today, she thought, would just be another story in the book of tales about the hapless life of Anna. The thought grants her a brief moment of relief. She lets her lips curl up into a slight smile as she desperately tries to navigate the unbearable Arendelle traffic.

_At least the day can't get any worse_, she thinks. Wrong. Of course she was wrong- there were a million ways that this day could get worse. She tries to switch lanes with her small red beetle, but an aggressive taxi driver zooms by her. She jerks her car in the other direction in the nick of time. _Can't afford anymore dents._

She was trying to make it to her new job, which she was ecstatic about- Hans less so. She was guessing that was the real reason she was sporting a shiny new black eye on her first day of her new job. For a moment she had lost her head and thought it a good idea to mention reading about the successful business expenditures of one of his brothers.

Anna knew her boyfriend was touchy about any mention of one of his twelve older brothers, so she had recognized her mistake immediately. Still, something didn't quite sit right with her about his response. He had only resorted to violence one other time, and that situation was completely different. She figured this outburst stemmed from pent-up frustration about her having a job, and him recently losing his.

Anna takes in a deep breath. _In and out_, she coaches herself as she carefully turns a corner. She gets a glimpse of her reflection in the rearview mirror and sees that some of her cheap Walgreens makeup had come off, and black and blue spots could be seen protruding through her hastily thrown on mask.

_I'll have to redo this once I'm inside. _She didn't really know that much about makeup, but she figured her countenance should be slightly presentable if she was to not upset her new boss. His name was Kristoff, and she had only met him briefly for an interview.

He had seemed a bit stiff to her, but Anna was hoping he wouldn't be too harsh on her the first day. Of course if she ran into the company's owner -Elsa- she'd probably crap her pants. She didn't know much about the notorious ice queen, but the woman's nickname alone was enough to instill fear in Anna's heart.

Anna pulls into a parking spot and turns off the car. She pauses for a moment, checking her reflection in the rearview mirror once more. She had twisted her hair into a bun, putting -what she thought was- a fancy braid across the front. The strawberry blonde jungle on top of her head was a nearly untamable beast so she always had it twisted up, or in pigtails. She had decided the latter probably wouldn't do.

She opens her door and climbs out of the car, slamming the door behind her as she hurriedly runs for the entrance of the large building. She catches a glimpse of the name and her heart flutters, causing her to nearly trip over her rushing feet. _Northern Lights Industries. _She looks up toward the top of the very tall glass building. _And at the top sits the Ice Queen. _

Anna enters the building, fumbling to pull out her new ID. She flashes it to the two well dressed guards sitting behind the desk, but is stopped anyway. She gets cleared through and starts to power walk toward the elevators, but she sees a small redhead drop her purse, coins splattering everywhere.

Anna wants to keep walking, but watching the flustered woman try to retrieve coins around fast-moving people, not even slightly attempting to walk around the scene, just pulls at the strings of her heart. Anna hurriedly makes her way toward the woman and bends down, picking up a few coins.

The woman looks up and gives her a harried stare. "Thank you so much," she smiles, warily.

Anna nods her head. "It's okay- I've been there a few times." She turns to pick up another coin, but is halted by expensive black pumps, covered by tailored black pants. She waits for the figure to move, and when it doesn't she tentatively glances up.

Her eyes move past a black suit jacket and a charcoal gray collared shirt protruding from it. Anna makes it to the woman's face and her heart nearly stops. _Holy shit. The ice queen. _The woman sinks into an elegant crouch.

Hit with the intensity of her icy blue gaze at eye-level, Anna could only stare. Stunned. Something shifts in the air between them- and the woman stares back, revealing a scorching force of strength and power. The presence she exuded grew in strength, becoming nearly tangible.

Anna shifts backward, reacting on pure instinct, but finds herself sprawled flat on her backside. _Why do I have to be so clumsy? _Her elbows throb from the painful contact with the marble floor, but she barely notices it. She is too preoccupied with the image of perfection kneeling in front of her.

The woman's face was framed by thick platinum blonde hair, twisted into a side braid that hung elegantly over her shoulder. Her eyes narrowed slightly at Anna, her other features remaining in schooled impassivity.

She extends a hand to Anna, and and Anna takes it with trembling fingers. Her pulse leaps when the woman tightens her grip. The woman doesn't move for a moment, a frown line appearing between her perfect brows. "Are you alright?"

Her voice is smooth and confident. Anna swallows hard. "I'm fine," she says a little too cheerfully, with an awkward smile.

Anna gives her a thankful nod as she helps her to her feet. The woman then bends down and grabs Anna's ID from the floor and Anna lets out a relieved breath, finally free of her intense gaze. She returns to standing position, handing Anna the ID. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Anna. I'm Elsa." She pauses for a moment, studying Anna's face. "Are you sure you're okay? What happened to your eye?"

Anna's breath hitches and she quickly takes the ID from Elsa. "I'm fine. I just lost my balance… and I fell." She shrugs, hoping the woman will buy the excuse.

Elsa's eyes never leave Anna's, but her face gives away nothing about what she's thinking. After a moment she nods. "Well, try to be careful." She then smoothly walks around Anna and begins to make her way toward the exit of the building.

Anna swiftly walks toward the elevator and presses the up button. She then gets on and makes her way to her floor. As soon as she sees Kristoff he beelines in her direction. "You're late," he says, flatly.

Anna looks to him with too many emotions in her gaze to even discern one. "Sorry," she whispers.

His look softens and he takes in a breath. "Rough morning?" She nods. "Okay. Well your desk is over there," he says gesturing to an empty desk. "Just try to gather yourself, and then I'll brief you on what we'll be doing."

Anna gives him an appreciative smile before making her way toward the desk. She takes a seat, putting her head in her hands. She can't get the image of Elsa out of her head. _I really need a glass of wine right now._


	2. Elevator

"We're never going to be able to sell this." Anna sets her cup of blueberry-orange flavored tea down on the table as she shakes her head in disgust.

Kristoff takes another slow sip of his, swiveling it around in his mouth. "If you lower your expectations, it doesn't actually taste that bad." He puts his cup on the table and lets out a soft laugh. "Okay," he says, nodding his head, "-it's pretty bad."

Anna shrugs and offers him a slight smile. "I don't know. Maybe we can play off the lowered expectations bit." She starts to laugh. "The key to happiness is lowered expectations - Blueberry-Orange Tea."

Kristoff stands from the table and walks over to Anna, offering her a hand. She takes it and he helps her to her feet. "Despite the fact that you were late," he says, releasing her hand, "-you had a pretty great first day. I look forward to working with you more. I like your energy." He turns and starts to walk away. "Now go home and get some rest. You deserve it."

— — —

Anna opens the door of her apartment, tightly clutching the bag of takeout that she'd gotten on her way home. She takes a tentative step into the dark space, attempting to gauge where Hans could be, and what exactly his mood is. She hears the television on in the living room, and figures he must be watching sports- as usual.

She shuts the door behind her and locks it as quietly as possible. She doesn't want to draw too much attention to herself, especially after the previous night. She needed to give him some time to cool off. That's how it usually worked out- he'd get really mad, and then a few days later he'd be back to normal.

She walks to the kitchen -setting the food on the counter- and opens the refrigerator for a bottled water. The sound of Hans yelling and tossing the remote saps her last reserves of serenity, and by the time he storms in the kitchen she's ready to have a full meltdown.

"Why are you home so late," he belts out, already irrationally angry with her. His eyes land on the food, and a moment of understanding resonates on his face- but he quickly blinks it away, not wanting to apologize for being so brusque.

Anna attempts to reason with him anyway. "I stopped to get us some food. I wasn't sure if you'd eaten already, so I got some just in case. I figured if you weren't hungry we'd just have some left over." Her voice is tired, but not afraid. He doesn't scare her anymore. This had become the norm.

Briefly her mind drifts to whether or not that was a good or bad thing, but she turns away from the thought- not having enough energy to properly dwell on it. Hans opens the bag, taking the entire box of chicken, and walks back to the living room. Anna starts to protest, but decides she can live with eating the side dish of mashed-potatoes.

If she could afford to move away from this hell-hole, and the beast that dwelled in it- she would. But she had just graduated from college, and they had exhausted everything they had in getting this apartment. At first Hans was charming and exactly the guy she always imagined herself with, which is probably why she was so blinded by his lies.

The moment life became harder, Hans shut down. He wasn't emotionally stable enough to keep a job, and he -for some reason- kept trying to convince Anna that it was her fault. She sighs as she takes the mashed-potatoes from the bag along with the complimentary plastic fork.

She walks down the hallway, entering the bedroom, and takes a seat on their old lumpy mattress before peeling the lid off the mashed potatoes. She scoops some onto the fork and closes her eyes as she gets a taste of the magical healing powers of fast food.

She tries to think about something positive, something that would allow her to escape from this place that she was content with not calling home. _I have a job. _This was the first step to getting out. She'd have to use most of her money for paying the bills, buying the food, and generally taking care of Hans- but she knew she'd be able to save a small amount. Little by little she would be able to gather enough money to move out of this house.

Her mind drifts to Elsa for about the billionth time since she had ran into the woman in the lobby earlier that day. Anna wonders what it'd be like to be that young and that rich. She wonders what it's like to have tailored clothes, expensive shoes, and perfect hair... _what it's like to be able to stop someone's heart with just one look_.

Anna freezes with the fork shoved in her mouth and takes a deep breath. She gently pulls out the plastic utensil and places it in the empty styrofoam bowl. She had wanted to think about positive thoughts, but thoughts like those only made the situation worse.

She was satisfied with knowing that she'd never be rich. She was happy knowing that one day she'd _maybe _own _one _pair of expensive shoes, and that was enough for her. Her goal in life was to be happy and comfortable- two things that she definitely was not right now.

Anna grabs a magazine off her nightstand and opens it to a random page. As if it is a special form of bad luck, the first thing that catches her eye is an image of Elsa- fully equipped her perfect hair and icy-blue gaze. _She's not that much of an Ice Queen. I mean she was nice to me._

Anna closes her eyes. Elsa had been courteous... maybe. But to call it nice seemed to be pushing it a bit far. In fact, Anna was positive that Elsa wouldn't be able to pick her out in a line up, or know her from the next clumsy mess fumbling around the entrance of her building.

Anna doesn't know why that thought makes her unhappy- but it does. Elsa had to be worth billions of dollars, so Anna had no business expecting herself to be singled out by the Ice Queen- at least not in a positive way. Her work ethic certainly wasn't going to earn her that. _Late on the first day. _

It also wasn't as if she was going to do anything revolutionary for Elsa's company. The simple fact was that Anna literally had nothing of value for Elsa, so it was dumb to even entertain the idea of the woman ever giving a damn about the strawberry-blonde.

Anna rises from the bed, upset with her current line of thoughts, and heads toward the bathroom. She decides to focus on something else, and her job being the only thing she really has, Kristoff is the next target. He was nice to her. She didn't know if it was the black eye or if she just gave off an overwhelming aura of 'please pity me' but he had treated her with care.

She wanted to prove to him that she was deserving of that. She was going to sell that blueberry-orange flavored tea if it was the last thing she did. Anna looks at her reflection in the small bathroom mirror as she twists the handle on the faucet. Water starts to spurt from it in uneven streams and she sticks her hands in, letting water flow into the makeshift cup, before splashing it over her face.

She then grabs a face towel and gently wipes the makeup from around her eye. She needed to be more careful around Hans until she had the means to get herself out of this place. She had nowhere to go, and no one to turn to. In hindsight that was probably mostly Hans' doing. She felt like he had cut her off from the world, and by the time she noticed- it had been too late.

Once again Anna's thoughts float back to Elsa and she tries to divert them, but she can't stop the platinum blonde's words from bouncing around her brain. _Well, try to be careful. _Anna lets out a small sigh and accepts the fact that her mind wants to dwell on the brief contact she had with the ice queen. _That sentence just has to mean that she cared, _Anna thinks, mostly to amuse herself. A slight smile crosses her lips and she turns the water off before returning to the bedroom.

* * *

Anna makes it to work the next day half an hour early. Part of it was to make up for yesterday, and the other part was to be sure to avoid having any contact with Elsa. She didn't need any more reason for her mental space to be occupied by the platinum blonde.

Anna gets out of her car, and this time has the luxury of slowly walking toward the entrance of the tall glass building. She gets in and flashes her ID, but isn't stopped by the security at the front desk. _At least they remember me, _she thinks, with a smile.

Anna glances around the busy lobby for any sign of Elsa, and when she doesn't see her she lets out a sigh of relief. _I can avoid making a fool of myself. _She heads toward the elevators, pressing the up button when she reaches them. The elevator somehow manages to stop on every floor before it reaches the bottom. "At this rate I'm going to be late again," she mutters to herself._  
_

"I hope you don't make that a habit," comes a smooth voice from behind her. She quickly turns around and is slapped by that icy blue stare once again. _Shit. _Somewhere in the back of her mind she vaguely registers that the elevator has finally arrived, but she keeps her eyes focused on those deep blue irises. "After you," Elsa smiles, gesturing toward the elevator.

Anna turns around and very calculatedly steps into the empty space. _Don't need to fall again. _She looks around the lobby, praying for one of the dozens of people floating around to decide they need to go to a higher floor. None of them do.

Elsa steps onto the elevator. "So how was your first day?" She asks the question offhandedly, as if she's an old friend of Anna's.

Anna can feel tension building in the elevator, but she writes it off as her nerves. She's afraid to look over at the other woman so she keeps her eyes focused on the floor. She can still feel Elsa's gaze on the side of her face, and for a moment she thinks it's rude that she's avoiding it, but she doesn't want to meet the platinum blonde's eyes.

_How did she know it was my first day, _Anna thinks. _Right. She's the boss. _Anna offers her a polite smile. "It was nice. I really enjoy working here and I'm grateful for the opportunity." _Shut it, Anna. _She takes in a deep breath and looks up at the number on the elevator. _Only three floors to go. _

Elsa smiles at Anna, and it almost reaches her eyes... almost. "You don't have to flatter me. I wouldn't mind if you said you had a rough first day."

The doors open on Anna's floor and she quickly steps out of the elevator before turning to Elsa. "N-no, it was great." She waves to the platinum blonde as the doors to the elevator close. When she's in the clear, she quickly heads for her desk and puts her head down on the cold metal. _Strike two. One more and I'm definitely out. _


	3. Strike Four

Kristoff leans back in his Aeron chair, looking across his utilitarian metal desk- which was only slightly larger than Anna's. The only difference was that her desk was in a cubicle and his was enclosed in a small office- one with a view to kill for. Anna lets her mind drift to the kind of view Elsa must have, if this is what was reserved for junior employees. She is snapped back to reality by the sound of Kristoff's voice. "I don't really have much work for you right now. I guess I'm just not that great with delegating tasks." He shrugs. "You're my first assistant," he says, offering an apologetic smile.

Anna nods, vigorously- slowing the pace once she notices how overly enthusiastic she must seem. "It's fine, really. I could get you some coffee if you want. I'm sure we'll be able to come up with a good working dynamic in no time." She pauses. "Every relationship starts off a little slow," she says with a reassuring smile.

Kristoff lets out a small laugh, leaning forward and placing his arms on his desk. "You don't _have _to get me coffee, Anna. I'm very capable of doing that myself- although I would be forever grateful if you surprised me with the simple gesture from time to time- especially when work starts to pick up."

Anna promptly stands from her seat across from Kristoff and tilts her head with a smile. "Do not fret my dear boss. One hot caffeinated drink coming up." Kristoff gives her an appreciative nod as she exits his office.

Anna starts to make her way toward the expensive looking coffee machine, but she is stopped by the receptionist. "Hey, Bethany", she smiles.

The small brunette waves her fingers excitedly as she runs toward Anna. "I was looking for you. The big man wants to meet with your boss later today... and by Man, I mean woman... and by woman I mean the ice bitch." She covers her mouth in faux gesture of self-restraint.

Anna lets her jaw drop slightly as she shakes her head in slight disbelief, a small smile quirking up on her lips. "Bethany, you need to watch your mouth." Anna looks around the office nervously. "What if she can hear you?"

Bethany shrugs and hands Anna a slip of paper. "Yolo," she chimes as she turns and walks away.

Anna unfolds the paper in her hand, her eyes hovering over the curly letters.

**Meeting with Elsa. 5:30.**

_I wish I had a meeting with Elsa. _Anna takes in a sharp breath at the thought before crumpling the paper in her hand. She hurriedly walks toward the coffee machine, hoping that if she focused on a task her mind with stop wandering back to thoughts of the Ice Queen.

* * *

The rest of the day passed by in a blur. Kritoff spent most of it in long meetings with creative teams, and Anna spent it getting organized and answering phone calls. When 5:30 rolled around she was drained, and more than ready to head back to the pitiful excuse she called a bed.

Anna shuts down her computer and quickly gathers her things as she heads toward the elevators. She takes out her phone, deciding it would be safe to send Hans a text detailing when she be home. A ding alerts her that the elevator has arrived and she steps in front of it. When the doors open she takes a step forward.

Anna looks up to watch where she is going and she is met by icy blue eyes. Elsa is the lone occupant of the elevator. Today the older woman dawned an expensive blue blouse with a high-waisted black skirt. The color of the shirt worked wonders for her eyes. She stood there, staring blankly at Anna, with her arms folded across her chest.

Anna takes in a deep breath. Running into Elsa was like running into a wall she didn't know was there. She had come to a halt, just outside of the elevators, rooted to the floor- eyes fixed on the taller woman. The doors begin to close and Elsa jerks forward, pressing a button inside the elevator. "There's enough room for you to get in, Anna."

Anna is broken from her daze and she steps forward, entering the elevator. "Thank you," she mumbles, as she scoots to the opposite end of the tight space.

Elsa stares intently at the side of her face. "How was your day," she asks, startling Anna.

"It was fine," Anna answers, evenly. "How was yours?"

"It was successful," Elsa replies with a hint of amusement. "And it's getting better as it progresses."

Anna nods as she manages a smile, unsure of what Elsa was referring to. The elevator stops and a small group of people climb in. Anna inches toward the back to make room, and Elsa moves in closer to her, her arm brushing against Anna's. The shorter woman isn't sure what it is about that small touch, but a jolt of electricity rushes through her body.

When the elevator reaches the lobby she stifles the relieved sigh that tries to escape from her mouth as she quickly begins to exit the elevator. Murphy's Law being in full effect, she manages to trip over her feet, heading face first for the floor. Her demise is halted by a firm hand grabbing her arm, another wrapping around her waist. "How many times do I have to tell you to be careful," comes an amused voice from behind her.

Anna turns around, flustered, unable to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks. "S-sorry." She gently takes her arm from Elsa and begins to back away. "Thanks... for that." She nods as she swallows before turning around and quickly heading for the exit. _That was strike three. That was definitely strike three._

— — —

Anna makes it back to her apartment and exhaustedly enters her bedroom, hoping to collapse on her bed. Instead, she finds Hans sprawled out on the mattress, snoring, leaving her no room to scoot in. She walks back to the living area, deciding that the couch was better than nothing.

As she takes the seat on the sofa that looks like its been through three wars she lets her mind drift back to the events of the day. Avoiding Elsa really wasn't an option, considering they worked in the same building. Anna needed to figure out a way to avoid making a fool of herself.

She lies down on the couch, bunching a pillow under her head- trying to get most of the cotton in one spot. She closes her eyes and begins to drift away, but is startled back to reality by a grunt coming from across the room. "Where the hell is the food," Hans asks, obviously looking for a fight.

Anna decides to play it safe. "I didn't know if you had eaten or not, but I can go back out and get us some."

Hans slants his eyes at Anna before turning away and shaking his head. "You can... okay." He pauses, taking this time to laugh to himself. "I don't know why you have to be so dumb all the time, Anna." She cringes at the amount of disdain the older male places on her name. He turns away and begins to walk toward the kitchen. "I'm taking the car. I'll get my own damn food."

Anna quickly stands and follows him. If Hans took the car there was a high chance that he wouldn't be back in the morning, and she needed the car for work. She follows him into the kitchen, attempting to halt him. "Hans, please let me get the food. I need the car for work."

He turns to her, rage pooling in his eyes. "Are you saying I won't be back by morning? What are you suggesting, Anna?"

Anna swallows, hard. She takes a step back, wishing she could disappear. Wishing she could be anywhere but here in this moment. Hans comes at her fast, towering over her. She feels the sting of his slap before she even realizes he raised a hand. A couple moments later he's out the door, and she is curled into a ball on the cold kitchen linoleum.

_I don't deserve this. _Anna's body starts to shake as a tear falls down her cheek. She wishes with everything in her being that she had somewhere else to go. She wishes that she had a faithful friend to turn to, or at least someone to talk to- but she had no one. Her parents had died years ago and she never had any siblings. Despite being what she would deem a social being, she hadn't retained many, if not any, friends from high school.

Anna lifts herself from the floor and slowly makes her way to the bedroom. _At least I get my bed back. _Small victories. That's what she had to keep telling herself. She needed to get through this. She just had to stick it out long enough to get out of here.

The problem was, she was beginning to think, that Hans had figured it out. He knew that she would leave the moment she got the chance, and he was trying to stop that from happening. Hans' family actually had a decent amount of money. If he wasn't so headstrong he could be a part of that, but instead he spent his time living in a shitty apartment, struggling to dominate Anna.

Anna walks into the small bathroom and takes a look at her face. She can begin to see the puffy outline of a red hand print appearing on her face and she wishes deep in her heart that it is gone by the time she gets to work tomorrow, if she able to make it.

Anna heads back into the bedroom, plopping down on her lumpy mattress, and lets herself drift off into a somewhat satisfying slumber.

— — —

Anna sits silently on the subway as she constantly checks her watch, willing time to move a little slower. Hans hadn't returned home with the car, and she had overslept. She woke up at an unreasonable time for even if she _did _have the car.

She hadn't had the time to cover up her eye, or the hand print that was now resting on her cheek, refusing to go away. She is greatly aware of the fact that she looks like a battered woman, and she wishes the pitying eyes of older women on the subway would be averted from her direction.

She arrives at her job an hour late and tries to run through the parking lot, already not caring about her appearance. Half way through the lot she spots Elsa. _Jesus freaking Christ. Why the hell does this woman keep showing up in my life? _Anna tries to sneak past the taller woman, but Elsa spots her and calls out to her. "Anna!"

The platinum blonde walks toward Anna, her eyes widening as she takes in a full glimpse of the scene. Anna tries to redirect the older woman's attention. "I really have to get inside."

Elsa doesn't respond. She just firmly takes Anna's arm and starts to lead her toward a very expensive looking black car. She opens the passenger door and looks to Anna. "Sit," she commands. Anna obliges.

She watches as Elsa walks around the car, opening the door on the drivers side, taking a seat behind the steering wheel. The older woman then leans over Anna, opening the glove compartment. She pulls out a small black bag and unzips it to reveal an assortment of makeup products. "I won't ask because it's none of my business." She looks over to Anna. "But I know what it's like to get _those _looks, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

She leans over and begins to apply makeup around Anna's eye. "This isn't exactly your color, but it'll help. I'll try to blend it as best as I can."

Anna remains silent. Being in tight spaces with Elsa normally made her uncomfortable, but she was finding _this_ oddly comforting. She was actually slightly enjoying this somewhat intimate encounter she was sharing with the platinum blonde. "You don't have to do this," she finds herself saying, before she has a chance to stop the words from spilling from her mouth.

Elsa drops her hand and looks away, some emotion breaking through her mask. It looks like anger but it quickly flickers away. She turns back to Anna, lifting her hand back to the younger girls face. It occurs to Anna that Elsa's touch feels gentler this time. Elsa presses her lips into a tight line. "If I'm making you uncomfortable I can stop. I hope this isn't too personal. I just... it bothers me to see you like this."

"No its-"

"I give speeches at tons of events about domestic violence," Elsa continues, ignoring Anna's attempt to speak. "I just felt like I needed to do something... anything to help." She puts the makeup brush back in the bag and gently runs her thumb over the area she had been working on.

Anna takes in a breath as she fights the urge to reach out and touch Elsa. She wants to know what it's like to be able to touch the Ice Queen, or even reciprocate what the woman is currently doing to her. She wishes she could run a finger over Elsa's cheek. "It's not domestic violence," Anna starts, "-I just fell down, honestly. You don't have to feel bad."

Elsa lets out a frustrated breath. "You fell down and hit what?"

Anna shrugs. "The... ground."

"The ground that was shaped like a hand?"

Anna nods as she clears her throat. "I once knew this girl who fell off her bike and got a scar that was shaped like Texas. Bruises and stuff can be weird like that." Anna reaches for the handle of the door as she desperately tries to escape this situation. "I really need to get in there. My uhhh, my car broke down this morning and I had to take the subway... is why I'm so late." She looks down at her fingers.

Elsa turns in her seat, facing forward, and closes her eyes. "You really shouldn't make being late a habit, especially if you plan on continuing to run into me. I would hate to have to fire you."

Anna nods as she opens the door, getting out of the car. "I'll never be late again, I promise." She pauses before shutting the door. "Thank you for this." She gently lets the door snap shut before turning and heading toward the tall glass building. _Is there a such thing as strike four?_


	4. Nice Running into You Again

"I never understood why women subjected themselves to that."

"To what," Anna asks, looking up from her salad.

Bethany makes a disapproving face at Anna's plate and gestures toward it with her fork. "To salads. Come on, Anna. Please don't tell me you're one of those health freaks. You're like a twig, you deserve to let loose a little. Eat a steak."

_I wish_, Anna thinks as she mindlessly pokes at a leaf on her plate. She would love to go out to restaurants and buy expensive food, but the truth was- she shouldn't even be here eating this _salad. _She needed every spare penny that she had to make getting out of that house possible.

Anna looks up and gives Bethany the best smile she can muster up. "I'm uhhh, I'm just not that hungry today." She clears her throat. "Cramps," she shrugs. It was a lie, but it was better than telling Bethany the truth. Anna didn't want to make a big deal out of her relationship. If everything worked out as planned she could be moving into her very own place and starting a new life in a little over a year.

She didn't feel the need to broadcast to any and everyone that maybe Hans wasn't the best person to be shacked up with. Those weren't problems that she needed resting on anyone else's shoulders. These were things that she needed to deal with herself. She got herself into the relationship, and she was determined to get herself out.

Bethany tilts her head, knowingly. She pulls up her Prada bag which had been resting comfortably next to her on the floor and she places it on her lap, rummaging through the seemingly endless amounts of crap she has stuffed in there. "My doctor gave me the best prescription for my cramps... if I could just..." She starts to take piles of things out of her purse and placing them on the table.

Anna holds up a hand. "Oh, you don't need to do that, really." Bethany seems to either be in her own world, or just ignoring Anna. Either way she doesn't acknowledge that the strawberry-blonde has spoken. She continues to dig in her purse.

Anna slumps down in her chair and lets out a sigh. She looks around the small outdoor restaurant and takes in the scene of all the happy people chattering away. This could be her one day. She could be here not stressing about the fact that she has to pay twelve dollars for a salad. She could be here to simply enjoy a real meal- have a steak.

"Got it," Bethany yells, snapping Anna from her thoughts. She begins to shove things back into her purse. "They were really deep in there, but yeah. You just take one, and you're like good for twenty-four hours." She twists the top off of the bottle and tilts it into her palm before reaching forward, handing Anna a pill.

Anna takes it, not wanting to argue with the woman who spent the last five minutes looking through her purse. She places the pill on the back of her tongue and takes a swig of water, swallowing the small white tablet. "Thanks. Maybe the day will be a little more pleasant."

Bethany nods with a smile, before picking up her fork and digging into her pasta again. "So how do you like working at Northern Lights? Is it everything you dreamed it would be?"

Anna shrugs, scratching at a spot on the table. "I guess... I mean it pays." She looks up to Bethany.

The brunette lets out a small laugh, shaking her head. "The struggle is very real. Have you run into the ice bitch yet?"

"Unfortunately," Anna mutters, staring down at her food.

Bethany continues as if she didn't hear it. "I mean she _is _sort of attractive, like-" Bethany pauses to chew a bit of meat from her pasta. "If I was a lesbian I'd totally be into her, you know?"

Anna bites down on her lip. _Yes, I do know. _She sits back in her chair and listens to Bethany ramble on for the rest of the meal. She isn't sure why she agreed to come to this. She wanted a friend- but choosing Bethany might have not been a wise decision. Anna could barely keep up with the conversation, and Beth -as she kept telling Anna to call her- seemed like the type to want to impulse shop. That was a situation Anna didn't want to find herself in.

When lunch ends they slowly make their way back to the enormous glass building they work in, having to stop many times along the way for Beth to window shop. Anna humored her a few times by pointing to things she liked, but quite honestly the entire situation just made her sad.

When they walk inside the building, Anna somehow feels safe walking through the lobby, and towards the elevators. If she ran into Elsa she'd have the added comfort of a friend, so maybe she'd be less likely to do or say something foolish. They press the up button and wait for the elevator to arrive.

When they make it to their floor Beth heads to her desk, waving goodbye, and Anna heads toward Kristoff's office. He begins to speak as soon as she walks in. "How do you feel about Jackson Skis?"

"Honestly," Anna says with a shrug, "I've never actually heard of them."

"Good," Kristoff says, letting out a sigh of relief. "Me neither."

"Is there anything I can do?"

Kristoff stands from his chair, running a hand through his messy blonde hair. He taps his fingers on his desk and looks to Anna apologetically. "You could stay late and do a lot of research with me."

Anna thinks over the request momentarily, realizing Hans wouldn't be very pleased if she stayed late. She decides the job is more important and nods her head. "Yeah- I'm totally up for that."

"Thank you," Kristoff says, closing his eyes and tilting his head back. He walks back to his chair and takes a seat, opening some notes on his computer. "Jackson Skis requested me for the account, by name."

"Whoa! Congratulations!"

Kristoff looks up with a smile. "Thanks, but that isn't necessary quite yet. I still need to land the account. There is a meeting scheduled for tomorrow and I am currently sweating my ass off about this."

Anna nods her head. "That seems a little fast."

"It is," Kristoff says, agreeing. "Northern Lights recently acquired Jackson Skis and N.L. has a bunch of subsidiaries. It's good business and they know it, so they're pretty much just making us jump through some hoops. Probably why they asked for _me_." He presses his lips into a tight line and looks back to his computer.

"There is normally a team, right?"

"Yeah, but they know the drill. They would probably get the pitch from a senior exec and then have to work with a junior employee like me so they're just skipping that whole process and coming to me directly." He looks at Anna and lets out a long breath. "Lets jump in."

Kristoff and Anna work straight through the rest of the day and long after the office had emptied. A little after eight they call it quits, and Anna makes the apprehensive trek home.

She enters the apartment expecting to find an angry Hans, but instead she finds an empty house. She thanks whatever God is responsible for this before heading to her bedroom and collapsing on her old lumpy mattress.

— — —

Anna and Kristoff work through most of the next day to prepare for the four o'clock meeting with the team from Jackson Skis. They grab an information filled lunch with two creatives who are also working on the pitch. As three-thirty approaches, Anna starts to get a little nervous. She really wanted Kristoff to do well in his meeting.

At a quarter till four Kristoff bounds out of his office and walks straight to Anna. "Join me in the meeting?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah," he nods. "You worked just as hard on this as I did."

"Yes. Absolutely." Anna pushes to her feet and straightens out her clothes, wanting her appearance to be a positive reflection on her boss. She was wearing a black skirt and a long-sleeved green button up blouse. By some twist of fate, her shirt happened to match Kristoff's tie.

They walk to the elevators, pressing up instead of down. They get on and head to the floor of the conference room. Stepping off the elevator, Anna is immediately greeted by a much nicer waiting area than their floor had. She takes a look around the space. _This must be what being important feels like._

The door to the conference room opens and Kristoff and Anna are gestured in. Anna goes first, making sure to smile as she steps inside of the room. The smile freezes on her face as she sees the woman rising to greet her at the entrance of the room.

Anna stops abruptly, causing Kristoff to slam into her, sending her stumbling forward. The Ice Queen catches her by the waist, lifting Anna up into her chest. The air leaves from Anna's lungs, followed by every piece of sense that she has. Elsa smiles down at her. "Nice running into you again, Anna."

Anna realizes that she is pressed against Elsa, finally able to touch her, and she can't find the will to push away, despite the other people in the room.

"Ms. Snow," she hears Kristoff say behind her. "Sorry about the entrance."

Anna takes this as her cue to move, and she promptly pulls away from Elsa. She tries to take a step but her knees are weak from the contact with the taller woman, so she pauses to take a breath. Kristoff sticks out a hand, looking to her with concern, as he places it on her back and steadies her.

Elsa's eyes focus on Kristoff's hand until he takes it off of Anna's back. "Okay," he says, gathering himself. "This is my assistant, Anna." He gestures in Anna's direction.

"We've met," Elsa says cooly. Anna feels a chill go through her body at the woman's suddenly cold tone. _Right. The Ice Queen. _Elsa turns and pulls out a chair next to hers. "Anna." Anna pauses and looks up to Kristoff for guidance, still recovering from her embarrassing stumble. Elsa leans toward her. "Take a seat, Anna," she orders, quietly.

Kristoff gives a small nod and Anna turns, shrinking down into the chair. Elsa cuts her eyes at the taller male, before turning and taking a seat back at her spot at the table.

Anna tries her best not to fidget for the next hour as Kristoff is grilled by Elsa and the two male representatives from Jackson Skis. She would have felt nervous for Kristoff, but he was performing wonderfully, perfectly articulating each concept. One of the representatives seemed very enthusiastic about his ideas, while the other seemed to be heavily focused on Elsa.

"Very well done, Mr. Bjorgman," Elsa praised, after everything had been said. She turns to Anna, her gaze searing. "What would make you want to buy Jackson Skis, Anna?"

Anna, caught off guard, clears her throat. The room is silent as she looks around at all the faces staring at her expectantly. "Excuse me," she manages to squeak out, unsure of what Elsa wanted from her.

"Which concept did you like best?" Elsa turns her chair to face Anna directly, and she rests an arm on the large wooden table. Anna watches as she taps her perfectly manicured fingers along the surface.

"Well," Anna starts, "I think they were all great."

A small smile spreads across Elsa's lips. "Do I have to clear the room to get an honest opinion from you?"

Anna clears her throat again. "I was saying... I like them all, but concept two really stands out for me... I'm not really an expert on-"

"I like concept two as well," Elsa says, standing from her chair. She looks to Kristoff. "You have a direction, Mr. Bjorgman. We can meet again next week."

Everyone begins to stand from the table and Anna rises from her chair. She turns, leading the way out of the room and is overly aware of Elsa walking next to her. They make it to the elevators and everyone begins to climb on to one, but Elsa holds Anna back.

The platinum blonde gives Kristoff a nod. "She'll be down shortly." Anna offers the man a slight smile as the doors close. Elsa turns to Anna. "I hope you've ended things with that _ground_ you keep falling on."

Anna thinks to make an excuse, but she can't find the mental will to fight anymore, especially not with Elsa. "I'm working on it," she says, looking into the taller woman's eyes. "It's just a little complicated. I can't afford to just leave," she finishes quietly.

Elsa looks to her, bewildered. "Your _face_ can't afford to-"

"No," Anna interrupts. "I literally can't _afford _to just leave." The elevator doors open and Anna steps into the now empty space. "I really need to get back to Kristoff and apologize." She gives Elsa a weak smile as the doors close.

Anna makes it back to her floor and finds Kristoff pacing around the waiting area. "Jesus, Anna. What was that?"

"I have no freaking idea," Anna exhales. "At least it looks like you're gonna get the account."

Kritoff smiles and stops pacing. He walks to Anna, pulling her into a hug. "Thanks for everything. You deserve to go home and take a nice, relaxing bubble bath. I would offer you tomorrow off, but-" He tilts his head and Anna nods knowingly as he releases her.

"It feels nice working with you. We make a good team," she says with a smile.


	5. Come Home With Me?

Despite the mishap with her entrance into the meeting, Anna would describe this as one of the better days she has had in a while. Now, exhausted and pleasantly satisfied with the outcome of Kristoff and her efforts, she hobbles back to her desk- desperate to get out of her old tried and true pair of black pumps. She just needs to pack up and shut down her computer, and then she can be on her way home.

Anna places her hand on the standard white, cordless mouse, leading the little black arrow on the screen toward the apple in the upper left corner. Just as she goes to shut the computer down her eyes are diverted to a notification on the other side of the screen.

She had received an email. Normally she'd be tempted to ignore it until the following morning, but the notification said the email was from Elsa. Anna lets out a sigh as she moves the mouse to the other side of the screen, opening the message.

**If you need anything, give me a call. 525-555-6552.**

Anna's eyes hover over the numbers, searing them into her brain as if she had an eidetic memory. Elsa wanted to be in contact with her. Anna. The clumsy secretary. She almost gets lost in the moment, but her thoughts are unceremoniously snapped to a more rational line of thinking.

Elsa didn't _want _to be in contact with her. She was reaching out because she felt she _had_ to. Anna had forced her hand. The strawberry-blonde inwardly scolds herself for telling the Ice Queen that she couldn't afford to leave her abusive boyfriend. She didn't need the boss of her boss thinking that she was undeservedly asking for handouts.

Anna shuts down her computer and turns to leave the office. She should have just kept her mouth shut, or better yet, she should have just gotten on the elevator with Kristoff. It was bad enough that she ran into Elsa everyday, but now they would have this unwelcome knowledge hovering between the two of them. She steps into the elevator, thankful that the day is at least over, and she can go home and get some rest.

— — —

Anna walks into her apartment, immediately feeling less thankful than she had felt while she was exiting Northern Lights Industries. She can't quite explain the feeling she has, but she knows for a fact that Hans is in the house, and she has no way of gauging what his mood is. Lucky for her, he wasn't shy about broadcasting it.

He appears just as Anna manages to tug off her second shoe, lazily dropping it to the wooden floor. He folds his arms and leans against a wall, silently staring at Anna for a moment before speaking. "Where were you last night?" His voice is unusually calm. It could be the effects of having two long days in a row, but something about his presence is lighting an angry spark inside of Anna.

She quickly brushes past him, walking into the kitchen. He turns to follow her, entering as she sets her cellphone on he counter. "I was at home last night, Hans," Anna begins, not hiding the fact that she is annoyed. "Where were _you_?" The thick silence that lingers between the two tells Anna that she has spoken the wrong words. She realizes that she's picking a fight, when that might not necessarily be the best thing to do.

Anna's mind begins to race as she tries to search for the magic words that will undo what she has just done. She wishes she knew what to do or say to make the situation better, but she is coming up with nothing. Anna very slowly turns around, not wanting to make any sudden movements, and looks Hans in the eyes.

She had no idea what she should do, so she finally lets her shoulders sink as she slightly bows her head and waits for the inevitable. After what feels like an eternity goes by without anyone making a move, Anna tentatively lifts her gaze back to the man she had once been happy to call a boyfriend. His hesitation in this tense situation was starting to make her a little nervous. She doesn't know what could be running through his mind at this moment.

Hans unexpectedly starts to move toward her and she recoils slightly, taking a step back. He continues in her direction until he's within in touching distance. "You are so goddamn insignificant, Anna. I don't know what made you think that you have the right to speak to me in any kind of way."

Anna looks down at the floor and tries to tune out his rant. She hated to admit it, but he was actually starting to get under her skin. At first she could ignore him because she knew his words weren't true, but each insult stung a little more with every repetition.

Hans puts a hand under her chin, roughly lifting her head so she can look him in the eyes. "Are you listening to me? I _would_ call you dumb, but you somehow managed to make it through college- so you must just be stupid."

Anna has never really been a violent person. She never enjoyed gory video games or took part in killing even an insect when it wasn't _absolutely _necessary. So right now, as Hans is yelling into her face, she can't figure out where the urge to curl her hand into a fist is coming from.

She doesn't know why the only thought her mind can form is one of her punching Hans square in the mouth. She can't figure out where or how such violent actions managed to seek their way into her psyche- but here they were. Here they were, and she couldn't control them.

Anna clenches her hand into a fist, squeezing so tight that she's sure her finger nails are going to make a permanent imprint on her palm. The blood in her knuckles has all retreated elsewhere, leaving a ghostly pale surface in its absence. She lifts her arm and swings her fist forward, her world moving in slow motion as all the sound is momentarily sucked out of the air around her.

Hans' head twists around as he collapses to the floor, tightly clutching his mouth. This might have been a good time for Anna to run, but that is the last thought that is going through her mind. She had hit Hans. She did it. She stood up for herself and it felt amazing. The blood slowly trickling down her finger from making contact with his tooth was worth it. Whatever happened next was worth it- or so she told herself.

Hans stands, fury burning in his eyes as he moves toward Anna with a clenched fist. She closes her eyes, her toes pressing into the cold linoleum, expecting the blow to come to her face, but it doesn't.

Anna feels the wind being sucked out of her lungs as Hans lands a fist in the center of her stomach- and then he lands another one. Anna goes down after third punch, but the blows keep coming, all aimed at her torso. The hits rain down for what feels like hours with no reprieve. _It was worth it, _Anna tells herself as she curls into a fetal position, desperately trying to protect her vital organs.

The hits stop, and Anna takes in a shaky breath, not realizing she had gone so long without breathing. The fuel to her lungs gives her enough courage and energy to open her eyes. What she sees makes her instantly regret the decision. She catches sight of Hans removing his belt, before she snaps her eyes shut again. This time Anna doesn't think it was worth it. She doesn't actually think much of anything. Her mind drifts to a dark place and she feels herself slipping away from reality.

— — —

When Anna opens her eyes, Hans is no longer there. She lets her ears focus, intently listening for any sounds that can give her a cue to his whereabouts. The faint drone of snores coming from some other room lets her know that he is asleep.

She slowly reaches her hand forward, placing it face down on the linoleum kitchen floors. She then pushes down with all of her strength, lifting her body from the floor. The unexpected pain that shoots through every inch of her torso causes her to collapse again, and she lies there for minutes.

Even if she did have a job and was saving up to move out- she wasn't going to make it a year in this house. She'd be surprised if she made it another week. She needs to leave. Anna places her palm on the floor again, lifting herself once more, but this time manages to continue the process- standing with nothing but pure will.

She then begins to slowly make her way from the kitchen, to the front door. Each step sends a wave of pain through her body, but she keeps moving. She doesn't bother to get her phone or shoes, because she doesn't need them. She just needs to get out of the house.

Anna opens the front door and gently shuts it behind her before making her way down the steps of her apartment building, and out the entrance. She makes it five blocks, her feet raw from scraping against the cold concrete, before what just happened catches up to her. Her mind briefly flutters between shock, terror, and relief before she finally breaks down.

Anna's knees smack against the ground as inhuman sobs begin to gurgle from her throat. She tightly wraps her arms around herself as she leans forward and presses her forehead against the concrete, tears streaming down her cheeks. Everything had fallen apart. She felt like she had taken one step forward and thousands of steps back.

She hates herself for hitting Hans. One moment of a lapse in judgement had cost her the chance of ever having a better life. She sure as hell couldn't show up to work for _at least_ of couple of days. Besides that, she had no where to go. She had no money- she didn't even have shoes. She had no friends.

Well, the last thought wasn't necessarily true. She did have Elsa. She did have the invitation to call if she needed anything... and she did something. She needed any handout Elsa could give her right now- not because she deserved it, but because otherwise she wouldn't survive much longer.

Anna pulls herself from the ground and drags her aching body to the gas station that is a block ahead. She needs to get to a phone.

When Anna enters the gas station she can tell how bad she looks by the facial expression plastered on every person within looking distance. If she needed to use a phone she could have her pick. _Lucky me. _

Anna settles on borrowing an ancient flip phone from an even more ancient woman. She gives her an appreciative smile as she slowly dials the numbers that she had committed to memory earlier that day... or perhaps it had been yesterday. She isn't really sure of the time.

Anna lifts the phone to her ear, half expecting Elsa to not answer, but the slightly older woman picks up on the first ring. "Snow speaking." Her voice is cool and confident.

Normally this would make Anna nervous. Normally she would hang up and toss the phone back to the old lady without a second thought, but tonight was different. "Hi, Ms. Snow. It's Anna. You said to call if I needed anything." Anna pauses and takes in a deep breath. "I'm at a gas station on the corner of West Ingleton." Anna hangs up the phone and hands it back to the lady before exiting the gas station.

She sits on the small curb out front waiting for Elsa to show up- _if_ she was going to show up. Anna didn't know what she was going to say to Elsa or how she would respond if the platinum blonde asked too many questions- questions about things that Anna definitely wasn't ready to talk about. She was still having trouble processing everything herself.

After only fifteen minutes of sitting a black car turns into the lot, and Anna automatically knows who it is. The car smoothly pulls into a spot near Anna and Elsa jumps out of the car, moving with with both speed and elegance- something Anna didn't even know was possible.

She slows as she approaches the younger girl and takes a seat next to her. She is wearing a cerulean t-shirt and tight white pants. _Even her casual clothes look like they cost a million dollars_. Elsa rests her hands on her knees before turning her worried blue gaze to Anna. "Do you want to... maybe... come home with me?"

Anna nods.


	6. You're Welcome to Stay

Anna would like to think the ride back to Elsa's apartment was spent in a companionable silence, but that would be the last thing to describe the lack of conversation between her and the platinum blonde.

Elsa wouldn't look at her. It wasn't as if Anna was begging for fifteen minutes of intense eye contact, but the older woman could at least chance a glance in her direction when she made right turns.

Anna wanted Elsa to say the words. She wanted her to say I told you so. At least if she got it out in the open they could stop tiptoeing around the fact that it was Anna's fault that both of them were in this predicament. Elsa probably wanted to be here just as much as Anna wanted to have the shit beaten out of her by Hans.

Every so often Elsa would clench her jaw and let out an exasperated breath, all while putting in serious efforts to avoid looking the younger girl in the eyes. At this point Anna wasn't attempting to hide her glances. She had all but completely turned her body in Elsa's direction.

Finally, as they are pulling into a parking spot in the garage connected to a tower of high end apartments -ones that more than likely were exclusive to billionaire clients- Anna decided that she'd had enough of being ignored. She wants to say something to Elsa, give her a piece of her mind. She has had enough of being treated like shit this night and she wanted to make it clear that she wasn't going to let Elsa drag her through the mud.

As Anna opens her mouth to release her thoughts the dim lights in the parking garage fall on Elsa's face in just the right angle, and the younger girl sees what was previously invisible as they were driving through the dark streets. Elsa had been crying.

Elsa brings the car to a full stop and pulls the keys out of the ignition. She then places her hands in her lap and fiddles around with the pieces of metal. Anna can't comfort her. She doesn't have the strength to comfort her. She instead turns away from the older woman, pretending she didn't notice, and opens her car door.

As she steps out of the car the sting from the cold concrete beneath her feet reminds her that she still isn't wearing any shoes. Anna glances down at her dirt covered feet and scraped knees. She tries to shimmy her skirt down over them, but gives up after not putting in much effort. _What's the point?_

Elsa finally gets out of the car and makes her way to Anna's side. For the first time since the gas station she actually manages to look Anna in the eyes- briefly- before looking to the ground. "It's this way," she says cooly, tilting her head to the left. "Just follow me."

Elsa turns to leave but Anna stays in her place a moment. She doesn't know what she wants from the older woman. It was nice enough that Elsa was offering her home. _You can't expect her to comfort you as well. _Anna revels in the solemn clarity of the thought before starting the painful walk to Elsa's apartment. _At least I'll be able to get off of my feet._

They get in the elevator and Elsa presses in a code. It takes them to the top of the tower. The very top. When the elevator opens, it doesn't open into a hallway. It opens into Elsa's apartment. "Well, this is it," Elsa says, lamely gesturing around the space. Her movement and tone are both so nonchalant about the extravagant surroundings that Anna can't help but feel a tinge of anger.

_This is it_, Anna thinks, mentally chuckling. _This is just my humble abode. Nothing special about preheated concrete floors. _The thought floats through Anna's mind as she looks down at her feet. She was still standing on concrete, but her feet were no longer cold.

"They're heated," Elsa says, looking at the floor. "When I read it in the apartment description I thought it was unnecessary- but now I'm a little thankful for it." Anna doesn't respond. Elsa clears her throat, slowly backing away, before completely turning around. "You can sleep in the guest bedroom."

Elsa's tone and words are giving nothing away about how she feels about this situation. Anna can't tell if the taller woman wants her there or not. It seems like the crying, angry woman that was back in the car has been concealed somewhere behind Elsa's flawlessly trained expression of indifference. Suddenly the epithet Ice Queen starts to make a little more sense.

Anna follows Elsa to a room that just might be the size of her entire apartment... or at least her old apartment- the one she can never go back to, but has all of her things in it. The older woman then leads Anna into a bathroom and turns on the water in a shower that looks like it was made for ten people and cost the amount of money it would take to feed all of Africa.

Elsa then makes a remark and leaves the bathroom. Anna isn't sure what she said, because her thoughts have begun to consume her mind. None of this felt real. She felt like she was crawling through a bad dream, desperately trying to cling on to something that would drag her back to reality- drag her back to her bad, but still manageable, existence.

Hans was bad, but this was worse. Not knowing what she was going to do the next day wasn't a very nice feeling. Not knowing where she was going to go was an even worse feeling. Anna closes her eyes as she attempts to shut off her thoughts and tries to focus on something else. She looks at the expensive shower and sighs, deciding that was a better option than nothing.

Anna starts to reluctantly unbutton her shirt, not sure that she is ready to really see the damage that Hans has done. She slowly undoes each button, a piece of her battered skin shining through with the new release of each one. She isn't sure what she thought she was going to see, but her skin looks worse. She didn't even know that some of the colors on her body were even possible for skin to naturally be. Once her shirt is off she undoes her bra and pulls off her skirt and underwear before stepping into the shower.

The temperature of the water is perfect. It isn't too cold, too hot, or just close enough to acceptable. It is perfect. The water pressure is also perfect. Everything about the shower is perfect. It's so perfect that it makes Anna angry. She isn't sure where all of these foreign emotions are coming from inside of her, but it is hard to fight against them. She tries to search for a reason to be mad, but her mind can only focus on Elsa. It can only focus on how the older woman was treating her, how she _had_ treated her._  
_

Anna clenches her hands into fists as she lets the water pour over her. She doesn't know why she's taking her anger out on Elsa, when the real target should be Hans. He was going to get away with this, and her life was over. _Funny how life just always seem to work out. _Anna violently swings her fist outward, her knuckles colliding with the wall next to her.

She thought it would help release her anger, but it just hurts. It hurts a lot. Everything hurts. She looks down at her hand as she slowly sinks down to the floor of the shower, more tears falling from her eyes. She can't remember ever crying this much. She rests her head on the floor of the shower and closes her eyes.

* * *

Anna opens her eyes and finds Elsa's staring back at her. The taller woman leans back, collapsing on to her butt, and lets out a relieved sigh. She then crosses her legs and drops her head into her hands. Her blue shirt and white pants are soaked all the way through and strands of her platinum blonde locks cling to the side of her face.

Anna looks down at the immaculate white towel wrapped around her body. Her own hair wetly splayed over her shoulders.

Elsa lifts her head and runs a hand through her hair, moving the wet strands off of her face. She clears her throat as she stares at Anna intently, searching the younger girl's eyes. "You had me really worried there. You're going to get through this, Anna."

"Are you upset with me?" It is the first time Anna has spoken since she called Elsa to come pick her up. Her voice is hoarse and breathy. It doesn't sound much like her. It sounds weak.

"No." Elsa shakes her head, her eyes never leaving Anna's. "Why would I be upset with you?"

Anna slowly lifts her shoulders before letting them drop back down. "I don't know." She pauses. "I guess because you were pretty upset with me back in the office… and you were right. It's sort of like an I told you so moment."

Elsa shakes her head as she places her palms on the floor, using her arms as leverage to inch closer to Anna. "I'm never going to say that, and I was upset because… I just misjudged the situation. That's why I gave you my number. I felt bad."

"Oh," Anna whispers, dropping her head. "Guess you didn't actually want me to call."

"No, I didn't, Anna. You calling meant something like this happened." Elsa gestures toward Anna's chest and the younger girl recoils a bit, suddenly feeling vulnerable. "We need to call the police. We can't let him get away with this."

"You can't do that," Anna says, looking down at the scar on her hand, from where her knuckle connected with Hans' tooth. "I hit him first."

"You what," Elsa exclaims, running an angry hand through her hair. "Why would you do that, Anna? That was a really dumb thing to do. If-"

"_Oh_," Anna yells, interrupting the older woman. "When he was slapping that belt across my back, not once did I think that that was a _dumb_ thing to do. Thank you for opening my eyes." Anna painfully climbs to her feet, clutching the towel to her chest. "I'll be gone tomorrow. Thank you for your hospitality."

Elsa stands and follows Anna out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. She points in the direction of the very large bed. There is a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt lying on the edge. "Brought those in for you. I'll have better clothes here for you in the morning. Try to get some sleep." Elsa then turns away from Anna and walks out of the room.

Anna watches as she leaves before dropping the towel and walking toward the clothes that are carefully placed across the white bedspread. She figures that it's best to not dwell on Elsa and that she should just get some rest. It had been a hard day and getting herself worked up over little things was only going to make it harder.

Anna grabs the green t-shirt off the bed and for a moment she wonders if there was a reason that Elsa picked a green shirt for her. She decides that it's just a coincidence that the shirt happens to be her favorite color as she slips it over head. She then pulls on the gray sweat pants and climbs into the bed. She doesn't bother turning the lights off, she can't handle being alone in the dark.

— — —

Anna finds herself standing back inside of her apartment. She never wanted to return here, so she can't figure out why she did. She also can't figure out where Hans is, but she knows that he's there. He's there and he's going to be coming for her at any moment.

She decides to try to get her things before he comes for her. She takes out a gym bag and begins to messily pack clothes into it until it can't hold much more. She wants to try getting other things, but there is an ominous dread hanging over her because she knows Hans is close.

She closes the orange bag and throws the strap over her shoulder as she hurriedly makes her way toward the front door. Maybe if she moved fast enough Hans wouldn't catch her. Maybe she could actually make it out of the house without Hans seeing her.

She manages to make it to the front door by some stroke of good luck and she places her shaking hand on the door knob. This is it. This is her _actually_ escaping this hell hole and never having to come back. It's a moment of relief. She takes in a deep breath as she twists the knob and opens the door.

Her moment of relief is cut short because Hans is standing on the other side pf the door. She can see the inside of her apartment behind him, and she turns -confused- to see what is behind her. She see the stairs that lead out of the apartment building and tries to turn, but Hans grabs her and pulls her in.

She closes her eyes as Hans drags her back into the apartment, shutting the door behind her. It was dumb of her to think that she could ever leave. Hans was never going to let her go, and she didn't have any place to run to. This was her life and she was never going to get away from it.

— — —

Anna's eyes fling open and for the second time this night she wakes to Elsa's eyes staring into hers. This time she's shaking and Elsa's hand is resting on her shoulder. The older woman is wiping a cool cloth across her forehead, whispering consoling words to the younger girl. After a moment she stops moving the cloth and lets it rest on top of Anna's forehead. "You have a fever. I was just making sure you were okay."

"How'd you know?"

Elsa furrows her brow and shakes her head as she pulls her hand from Anna's shoulder. "What do you mean?"

Anna tries lifting herself on her elbows but pain shoots through every inch of her body. She collapses back to the bed, defeated, and closes her eyes. "How did you know I had a fever, Elsa?"

Elsa pulls her hands into her lap, looking down at them as she knots her fingers together. "I was just checking to see if you were okay." She shrugs. "I don't know." She then stands from the bed and begins to back away. "I have work in the morning, so I'm going to leave. I'll make sure there is a driver to take you wherever you need to go in the morning."

Elsa turns around to leave, but Anna stops her. "Wait," Anna grunts. Pain shoots through her body as she attempts to sit up. She manages to get into an upright position and a wave a dizziness rolls through her head. She raises her hand, resting her palm on her forehead. "Could you," she starts, her voice soft, "-could you stay here with me? I really don't want to be alone."

Elsa turns around, her eyes screaming that she wants to run away, but much to Anna's surprise, the older woman starts to walk toward the bed. She climbs in and lies on top of the covers, as far away from Anna as possible. She then folds her hands on her stomach as she lies on her back, staring at the ceiling.

Anna lies back down, turning onto her side, and faces Elsa. Anna opens her mouth to speak, but Elsa starts first. "I'm really sorry about what I said back in the bathroom. You're welcome to stay here as long as you need to." Elsa turns and gives Anna a smile. The younger girl can tell that the smile is supposed to be reassuring, but she is beginning to see past the mask that the platinum blonde has put on.

Anna knows that for some reason, her being here is hard for Elsa. She can't figure out why, but whatever it is- it has been bothering the older woman the entire night. Anna doesn't respond to the statement. She just closes her eyes and drifts away as she listens to the sound of Elsa's breathing.


	7. Ice Queen?

The last night was a blur. Somewhere between intense pain and uncontrollable sobs, Anna had found a way to end up in Elsa's apartment- comfortably curled up in the older woman's extra soft, oversized guest bed.

Elsa was no longer there. Placed on top of the perfectly re-fluffed pillow, where Elsa had remained as stiff as a board the entire night, sat a note. Anna decided that it could wait as she bravely extracted herself from the intoxicating comfort of Elsa's guest bed.

She concentrates all of her energy on not getting sick as she firmly plants her feet on the ground, gripping the side of the bed for support as she sways. Adjustment to standing up was grueling. Anna figured her body was in shock from all the pain she had endured- a side effect that she hadn't expected.

She takes one step and is reminded of her poor decision to walk the nearly ten blocks to the gas station barefoot. She hobbles out of the room in search of a house phone. Anna needed to call her bank and tell them to cancel her card, then send her a new one.

She figured she had enough in her account to spend a week in a really cheap motel room if she was content with living on bologna sandwiches. That could at least get her to her first paycheck and then she could figure out what to do from there.

If Anna played this right her life might not be as over as she had thought last night. That sobering thought is currently the only thing propelling her to stay out of Elsa's magnificent bed and actually attempt to get her crap together.

She just needed to actually figure out where the phone could be hiding in Elsa's rather large apartment. Anna makes it to the living area before she gives up on walking and collapses onto Elsa's couch, weak and exhausted.

She needed to at least get some food in her system. She decides her next destination will be Elsa's kitchen, figuring the older woman wouldn't miss a couple pieces of meat and maybe some fruit.

Anna is just about to stand when she hears the elevator to Elsa's apartment opening. She freezes, wondering who it could possibly be- but her her body relaxes when she sees the platinum blonde coming around the corner.

Elsa is wearing jeans and a black t-shirt, with her signature side braid perfectly draped over her shoulder. Even in her t-shirt she looks no less important than she is- confidence radiating from every inch of her body. Her attire makes it obvious that she most likely didn't go into work today.

The two women lock eyes and Elsa stops walking. They wordlessly stare at each other for a few seconds. _How does she do that? _Anna can't figure out how the awkward and antisocial woman who slept next to her last night was somehow managing to exude such an intimidating presence. After a moment she stops attempting to understand it and she looks away from the platinum blonde.

Elsa walks over and joins Anna on the couch. "So have you decided that you're going to stay?" She looks Anna in the eyes and the younger girl somehow yearns for the Elsa last night who couldn't look in her general direction.

"I was thinking I could get a motel room. I don't really want to be a nuisance. I just need to survive until my first paycheck." Anna gives Elsa a weak smile as she runs a hand through her messy strawberry-blonde hair, suddenly remembering how bad her hair looks when she wakes up. A blush spreads across her cheeks as she tries to somehow turn invisible.

Elsa gives Anna a quick nod before turning and standing from the couch. "You can survive until your first check living here." She starts to walk towards the kitchen. Anna attempts to speak, but Elsa continues. "Have you eaten yet? I can make you something."

When Anna doesn't respond, Elsa turns and looks in the younger girl's direction. Anna tries to stand from the couch, but pain shoots through her body once again. Elsa swiftly glides toward her and guides her back to a sitting position. "You stay here. I'll worry about everything else. Do you like eggs? You want an omelet? I can-"

"Eggs are fine," Anna says softly, interrupting the older woman. "An omelet is even better. Food. Food in general is good. I'm up for whatever you want to give me."

Elsa places a hand on Anna's knee as she kneels in front of her, concern etched on her face. "Okay, omelet it is. Would you like some orange juice? I also have-"

"Anything, Elsa. Anything you want to give me- I'm fine with."

Elsa stands and extends a hand toward Anna. "Is it okay if I help you to the bar? It might be easier to eat there."

Anna nods as she takes the older woman's hand. When she makes it to her feet she lets out a gasp as her legs are unexpectedly swept from the ground and she finds herself in Elsa's arms.

She had never noticed how fit the older woman was, or how strong- but it was evident in the way that she was effortlessly carrying Anna towards the bar in the kitchen. Just as Anna chances leaning her head against Elsa's chest, her behind connects with a seat and their brief moment of contact is over.

Elsa swiftly moves to the refrigerator and begins to gather ingredients to make an omelet. Anna takes a look around the large kitchen. The counter tops and bar top are both covered in black granite and all of the appliances are stainless steel.

Elsa looks very skilled in the kitchen, moving and chopping the food with the expertise of a seasoned chef. _There probably isn't a lot that she can't do. _Anna watches in awe as Elsa throws the diced peppers into a pan. This was better than watching one of those weird cooking shows that came on during the day.

Elsa pulls a glass out of a cabinet and sets it down in front of Anna. She then pulls a pitcher of orange juice out of the refrigerator and fills the cup sitting in front of the younger girl. "Hope you like it," she says with a smile as she returns to the omelet.

Anna can't help but let out a small laugh as she lifts the cup to her lips. The orange juice is the most divine tasting liquid that she has ever experienced. She didn't know that it could be this delicious. Maybe she was just really thirsty. "This is absolutely fantastic, Elsa. Is everything about your life so… rich?"

Elsa starts to laugh as she scoops the omelet out of the pan and places it on a white plate with a silver and blue snowflake etched into the center. "What is that supposed to mean, Anna? That's just simple orange juice."

"It probably costs more than my apartment," Anna mutters, taking another sip of the orange juice.

Elsa turns and places the plate in front of Anna. "I'm guessing that not many things cost less than your apartment. The place was dreadful."

Anna nearly spits the orange juice out at the sentence that came out of Elsa's mouth. "You were in my _apartment_!?"

Elsa nods as if it's no big deal. "I had to get your things, Anna."

Anna gulps, suddenly not as hungry as she had previously been. "B-but what about…" She pauses and takes in a deep breath. "What about Hans?"

Elsa shrugs as she turns away, walking toward the refrigerator. "He was accommodating. Didn't put up much of a fuss." She pulls out a yogurt and peels the lid back. "Kristoff has been informed that you'll be out the rest of the week. I gave him a little extra time on the account." She grabs a spoon from a drawer and walks back toward Anna. "Just take some time to let your body heal, Anna. You went through a lot."

Anna pulls the plate with the omelet on it toward her and digs into it with her fork. She takes a bite and closes her eyes as the flavors wash over her tongue. "Okay. Did you get my cellphone or my wallet with my debit card?"

Elsa shakes her head. "No, but I cancelled both and new ones are being sent to my apartment. The phone should arrive today. The card will take a few days. Sorry."

"How did you do that?"

Elsa takes a bite of her yogurt. "I get things done, Anna. It's what I'm good at- why everything in my life is so… _rich _as you so eloquently put it."

Anna takes another slow bite of her omelet, staring Elsa in the eyes. "Okay. Thanks for doing all of this for me… Thanks for sleeping in the bed with me last night."

"I was pretty useless last night. I apologize for that. That just really wasn't a phone call that I _wanted _to get… or one that I expected for that matter."

Anna gives Elsa a warm smile as she sets down her fork. "Is that why you're doing all of this? Elsa you saved my life last night. That's pretty far from useless."

Elsa looks down into her yogurt and Anna is sure that she can see a slight tinge of red on the older woman's cheeks. _She's this confident and she can't take a compliment. _Anna pulls in a breath and smiles to herself before speaking again. "I'm really glad I had someone to call last night. I'm going to pay you back for everything."

Elsa's head springs up from her yogurt, her eyes wide. "No, Anna. I just want to help you because…" She pauses. "Just let me do this for you. I don't expect anything in return, honestly."

"You make it a habit of taking in strays?"

Elsa shakes her head. "I haven't had anyone sleep in the same house as me… in a very long time… and I've never really slept in the bed with anyone, so that was sort of a first."

Anna tilts her head and furrows her brow, tempted to inquire into the revelation from Elsa, but she decides that maybe she shouldn't. "I hope I didn't make you too uncomfortable, I just didn't want to be alone."

Elsa shrugs and looks around, now avoiding making eye contact with Anna. "No… it was nice. I liked knowing that you were okay. That's why I checked on you. I couldn't sleep because I didn't know how you were doing."

Anna smiles and Elsa looks to her before quickly turning away. "What are you smiling at, Anna?"

"You," Anna replies, with a giggle. "You barely know me, but you seem to care so much. I just… I feel like coming out of… what I just came out of… I.." Anna pauses and takes in a breath. "I thought that maybe it was going to be hard trusting people, but I kind of trust you."

Elsa shakes her head. "I think there's a name for that... like being attached to the person who helps you after a traumatizing situation. Chances are I'm not as great as you might think I am."

Anna shrugs as she picks her fork back up. "Maybe. Either way, I'm sort of glad that it's _you_ helping me. I can't put into words how grateful I am for this."

"I'm glad that..." Elsa pauses and clears her throat. "I'm glad that I'm the one you called. I was hoping you understood that I would be there for you if you needed help... and I'm happy you took the chance with me, instead of going back to the your apartment or something. I really wish that I had been better company last night."

"Why do people call you the Ice Queen?" Elsa eyes widen and she scratches her shoulder. Anna continues. "You've been nice to me... nothing _but _nice to me. Some times I think I understand... but I'm not sure." Anna feels kind of bad for asking the question, but this was really starting to confuse her.

"I'm not like this with everyone," Elsa starts, "I'm not this nice... or open. It's just... it's just you." Elsa takes in a deep breath as she turns and walks to a lower cabinet, opening it to reveal a trash can. "I have to go... I need to... I have to make some calls." She gives Anna a quick smile as she hastily strides out of the kitchen.

Anna sits in silence, finishing her omelet. _She calls this open?_


	8. I Get Afraid

Anna walks as quietly as possible through the dark hallway of Elsa's apartment, her still healing feet protected by the welcome cushion of the special socks Elsa had gotten for her.

Normally Anna would be asleep, but she couldn't help but investigate the music coming from somewhere outside of the guest bedroom. The piece being played is a sad, sweet lament, perhaps Bach- she wasn't sure. Either way, it is beautiful.

It's the kind of music that makes a person stop in their tracks, letting their mind drift away to a place far from reality. Anna already knows the answer to the question floating through her mind, but she needs to be _absolutely _sure that the source of the beautiful sounds is her unquenchable obsession- Elsa Snow.

She had previously thought that living with the platinum blonde would satisfy her curiosity, but it somehow only deepened it. The more Anna tries to get closer to Elsa, the more the older woman pulls away.

In the three days that the women had been living together their relationship went from awkwardly strained, to a mild episode of Tom and Jerry- where Anna was a tenacious cat and Elsa was a cleverly evasive mouse.

_This, _Anna thinks, _is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. _She makes it to the end of the hall and the space opens into a large living area, sparsely furnished with only the most expensive modern elements.

There are abstract paintings, angular lamps, and perfectly symmetrical, rectangular furniture that seemed to only come in black, white, or charcoal gray. The only other defining element of the space was the large glass window.

It could be more accurately described as a large glass _wall _because that seemed to be the purpose it served. Nevertheless, it provides a spectacular view of the entire city.

The soft glow of the moon and the bright rays of various skyscrapers being cast through the thick glass of the large window are the only lights illuminating Elsa as she virtuosically glides her fingers over the keys of the piano.

Anna leans her body against the wall as she tries to fully take in the scene that is both visually and audibly pleasing. She doesn't want to ruin this moment, but she can't fight the building urge to walk to Elsa and be closer to the older woman.

Elsa's expression is sad and forlorn, perfectly matching the music she is playing. After a few moments of staring, Anna softly pads toward the piano and quietly joins her on the bench. She half expects the playing to stop, but instead the platinum blonde keeps going, not seeming to even notice that the younger girl has joined her.

When the song ends Elsa bows her head, closing her eyes as she softly pinches the bridge of her nose. "What's wrong, Anna," she asks gingerly, looking up at the freckled woman. "Did I disturb you?"

Anna shakes her head slowly, carefully searching Elsa's eyes for any hint of what the older woman could be thinking. "No, that was beautiful, Elsa. I figured you played… but I never imagined that you would be that amazing."

"I'm not that…" Elsa pauses and takes in a breath, giving Anna a weak smile. "Thanks. I've been playing since I was a little girl."

_I'd like to know more about little Elsa. _Anna has half a mind to inquire more into Elsa's childhood, but she doesn't want the older woman to run away from the conversation. She has to choose her words carefully. "Is there any particular reason that you're up playing tonight?"

Elsa turns away from Anna and gently runs her fingers over the keys of the piano, not hard enough to produce any sound. She blinks a few times before running the same hand through the loose strands of hair on top of her head. She then looks back to Anna, her expression somber. "Playing helps me sort through my thoughts."

"What kind of thoughts?"

Elsa bites down on her lower lip before letting it slowly slip from under her teeth, her eyes focused on Anna's teal inquiring orbs. "You ever feel like you could have anything in the world, except the one thing that you actually want?"

Anna lets out a small laugh as she nervously scratches her shoulder. She doesn't want to risk ruining this moment. She smiles at the the older woman and shrugs. "I always feel like I can't have _anything_... including the one thing I really want."

She laughs softly, trying to hint that it was meant to be a joke. "Sorry… you're being serious and I'm being… me. I understand what you're trying to say, Els." Anna takes in a sharp breath and her eyes widen. "Elsa… I meant to say Elsa."

For the past few days she had been toying around with nicknames for the older woman in her head, but this was the first time she had ever said one out loud. She hadn't even meant for it to happen. _Control yourself, Anna._

Elsa smiles as a noticeable blush creeps up her pale cheeks. She doesn't turn away from Anna or try to hide it, though, she just continues to look into Anna's eyes. "It's fine if you call me Els," she says softly, with a smile. "I've been called worse nicknames."

"Well, I think Ice Queen is kind of cute," Anna muses, a smile spreading across her face.

Elsa turns away and looks back down at the piano, her smile fading. "The name Ice Queen came from some hotshot reporter who did a piece on me during my rise to where I am now. I guess it was a play on my last name, combined with the fact that he thought I was cold-hearted. For some reason it stuck, so I just rolled with it."

"I wasn't trying to call you cold-hearted, Elsa. Sorry if that offended you."

Elsa places her arms by her sides, her palms firmly pressed against the piano bench. "You want to know what types of thoughts make me play piano at three in the morning," she whispers. She then closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath. "I keep having this dream… it opens with a wide-angle shot of me crunched in the center of small white room, ice spikes crudely jutting from the walls in every direction."

Anna feels her heart pause in her chest, silence filling the air around them. _She is opening up to me. Actually opening up to me. _Anna places her hands in her lap, making sure they don't do anything stupid. She wants this to moment to continue.

Elsa's eyes remain closed as she continues to speak. "I get afraid… really afraid, like a feeling that's protruding from deep within my soul. Somewhere in the back of my mind I know that I'm the reason the spikes are there."

Elsa swallows and Anna intently watches the gentle twitch of the older woman's throat. She wants to speak up and say something, but she isn't sure what the proper response is in this situation.

Elsa continues to speak, keeping her eyes closed as if she's envisioning the dream as she describes it. "I try to make them go away, like, mentally will them into nonexistence… but for some reason- the more I try, the larger they become."

Before Anna knows what she's doing, her hand is resting on top of Elsa's on the piano bench. The older woman opens her eyes and stares deep into Anna's. She starts to speak again, her voice soft. "Eventually the spikes close in on me and just when I feel like the torment is finally going to end… the dream's screen tightens on me and abruptly dissolves to the blank deep red color of eyes closed against dim light."

Anna closes her hand around Elsa's, softly running her thumb along the side- trying her best to reassure the older woman that everything is going to be okay.

Elsa keeps her hand in place, but she looks away from the younger girl. "And then there's this ghastly feeling of being submerged and not knowing which way to head for the surface and air. Sometimes when the feeling subsides, and I finally open my eyes, theres an image of who I used to be lying in front of me."

Elsa turns back to Anna, her eyes shimmering in the pale light. "There's this girl lying there who's afraid of everything. Someone I thought I let go years ago. I was so concerned with what people thought of me, that I thought I would be better off if I just shut everyone out."

She looks down at the keyboard as a tear falls down her cheek. "For a while I _was_ better. I learned to love myself in a way that I never had before… but I also lost the ability to relate to anyone and… soon I found out that maybe I feel _free _being alone… but I'm not happy."

Anna inches closer to Elsa on the bench as she tries to soothe her. "It's fine. You don't have to shut everyone out forever. It's okay to let people in."

Elsa turns to face Anna, her expression serious. "I know I seem mysterious, and maybe you find me attractive- but this is what you'd be getting yourself into." She pauses and sniffs as another tear falls down her cheek. "You don't want to live in my ice castle with me. You want to be out there with your friends… with normal people, and I'm not ready for that… so this, " she pulls her hand from under Anna's, "-this can never happen."

Anna opens her mouth to speak, but Elsa rises from the piano bench, and she knows that the older woman has already started to pull away. She instead accepts defeat and looks away from the platinum blonde, wishing things didn't have to be this way.

Elsa wipes her face with the back of her hand as she turns to walk back toward her room. "I have to be up early tomorrow. I called someone to help you with figuring out which apartment may be best for you to move in to. I'm not putting you out or anything… I just know how much you want that." She pauses and turns back around to face Anna. "I would hate for anything to stand in between you and what you _actually_ want."

After that she walks away.

Anna isn't sure what to do because in some respect Elsa is right. She can't even remember how long she'd been dreaming of having her own place.

Elsa was tempting, but Anna isn't sure if the platinum blonde is worth giving that dream up. Trying to lift their relationship to anything higher than what it is now would not only be a challenging process, but a potentially damaging one for both of the women.

Entering into something like that, right after she left Hans, wouldn't necessarily indicate that she had learned anything from her experience.

She stands from the piano bench, deciding it was best for both of them if she just moved out and moved on with her life. The truth in that thought is enough to put tears in her eyes as she slowly hobbles back to the guest bedroom.


	9. You're Drunk and You Might Regret This

One week.

It had been seven impossibly long days filled with unbearable all-consuming sadness since Anna had last laid eyes on Elsa.

She had moved out of Elsa's apartment, but as far as moving on- that was an entirely different story.

Elsa had been her excuse for not having to think about Hans. Not having to think about the abuse. Not having to think about anything except for the way that the platinum blonde's two hundred dollar Bianca Silk Shirt in Navy Pebble perfectly accented her deep blue eyes.

Elsa had been the perfect distraction from the shit show that her life had become, and now, with the older woman no longer around, Anna feels lost.

Anna picks up the drink in front of her as she throws Kristoff a smile across the small circular table. "Bottoms up!" She tosses her head back and swallows the shot of tequila, letting a small moan escape as the pleasing warmth of the drink radiates through her body.

Bethany grabs on to Anna's shoulder, leaning over, and all but presses her lips to the strawberry-blonde's ear. "I thought you'd be a light weight, Ah-nah.. but you're 'kay." She pulls back, giving Anna a warm smile, and extends her hand. "Dance?"

The loud EDM sounds pounding through the club normally would have Anna all over the dance floor, but now, after she-can't-remember-how-many drinks- it's only managing to give her a headache.

She gives Beth a smile as she searches for a proper way to dodge the invitation. "Uhm, so sorry, Beth. I gotta... I gotta bathroom," she yells over the loud music, as she points in some direction over her shoulder.

Beth nods her head and starts to swivel her hips, obviously ready to get out on the dance floor whether Anna comes with or not. "Okay, just meet me out there... Oh! When are you coming back to work? You're missed."

"Monday. Yeah, I finally got over that really bad flu."

"Obviously," Beth teases as she playfully pushes Anna's shoulder. She then presses her body to Anna's, leaning forward to whisper into the strawberry-blonde's ear. "Between me and you," she laughs as if there is a joke that Anna isn't getting. "I think Kristoff kinda gotta thing for you."

Beth takes a step back and leans her head in Kristoff's direction, prompting Anna to look. Anna turns to find Kristoff blankly staring at her with a drunken smile adorably plastered onto his face. She can't help but blush as she gives him a small wave.

She then turns back to Beth and they both begin to giggle. "Okay. Okay, but I really gotta pee. I'll find you on the dance floor."

Beth dances away as Anna turns, trying to mentally will herself to be sober enough to search for the club's restroom. She takes one step and stumbles over her feet, realizing that this process might be a little harder than she originally expected.

After a couple of tries she finally gets the hang of walking, and she begins to slowly make her way through the crowd of dancing bodies in search of the rest room. By the time she makes it to the other end of the madness she is immune to the copious amount of random hands attempting to grope her body.

She sees a sign with an arrow that says restroom and she follows it until she reaches a rather large line. _Shit. _Going to the restroom had originally just been an excuse, but now she really needed to go.

She pulls her phone out of her pocket in hopes of distracting herself with a game of flappy bird. As she sets eyes on the touch screen device in her hand she's reminded of Elsa.

A wave of sadness rolls through her at the thought, but then she gets the perfect idea of how to distract herself as she waits in line. _I'mma call Elsa. Let her know how I feel._

Anna slides the phone open, taking more than a few attempts to get her passcode correct, and she touches the name 'Elsa' on her phone. It starts to ring and she presses it against her ear. Elsa picks up right away. "Anna? Is everything okay?"

The older woman sounds surprised to hear from Anna. _I'm surprised I'm even calling her. _Anna takes a moment, reveling in the joy of hearing Elsa's voice, but then something clicks in her befuddled brain and she remembers why she called. "Why did you push me away," she slurs. "I just wanted someone to be there for me."

"Are you okay, Anna? You sound... different." Elsa's voice is filled with concern on the other end of the phone, but Anna ignores her question.

"Why did you do all of those great things for me if you were just gonna turn around and say that I can't be in your life_?_"

"Anna have you been drinking?"

Anna lets out a laugh and leans against the wall for support as the line moves forward. "Why do you care, Elsa?"

Elsa takes in a deep breath on the other end before speaking. "Where are you, Anna?"

"I'm at Oaken's, hanging out with my friends… since they don't think my company is too much of a burden. You know, you didn't have to take me in. No one forced you to do that." _There, that told her. _Anna smiles to herself, satisfied with what she said, as she ends the call.

Her phone starts to ring again, but she ignores it and places it in her pocket. After about ten minutes she finally makes it in the restroom and she's able to relieve herself for the first time the entire night.

As she exits she heads for the door to the club, deciding she needs to get some fresh air. Anna walks outside and leans against the brick wall as she closes her eyes, letting the wind cool her heated skin.

It had been a hard week, one of the hardest weeks of her life. She feels a little bad about going off on Elsa. After all, it wasn't _really _the older woman's fault.

Elsa wasn't responsible for the fact that Anna only seemed to feel genuinely happy when she was around. It wasn't her problem, it was Anna's.

Anna opens her eyes, deciding she should maybe call Elsa back, but she finds herself staring at the last person that she wants to see.

"Where's your guard dog," Hans sneers as he walks closer to the strawberry-blonde. "If you wanted your shit you could have just gotten it yourself."

He gets a little too close to Anna and she tries to back away, but she realizes that she's already pressed against a wall. She looks to the ground to avoid making eye contact. "Well if you hadn't tried to kill me-"

"Tried to kill you," Hans shouts, laughing as he throws his hands in the air. "Is that what you're telling people? I pushed you around a little… but c'mon. You hit me first, Anna. You were begging for it."

Hans leans forward and shoves his nose in Anna's hair, breathing in deeply. "You smell really nice." He then takes a step back and Anna looks up. His expression is serious. "You should come back home, Anna. I miss you."

Anna takes in a breath and decides that maybe if she tried to walk away, he wouldn't risk hurting her in public. She turns and he grabs her arm. She panics. "Look, Hans," she says, her heart rate speeding up. "I just need some space... for now."

Hans turns her back toward him as he places his other hand on her other arm, firmly holding her in place. "You too good for me, now? We were going to build a life together. What happened to that? One fight and you're gone. I always knew you were fickle."

Anna feels a lump form in her throat as her words start to escape her. She can't think straight and she doesn't know how to get away from Hans. She opens her mouth to speak, but another voice comes from the side of her. "Let her go, Hans."

Both Hans and Anna turn to find Elsa standing beside them. _When did she get here? _Anna blinks a few times trying to gauge whether or not this is actually happening.

Hans tightens his grip on her as he clenches his jaw. "This is a conversation between me and her. You don't have anything to do with this, so I suggest you leave."

Hans turns back to face Anna, but Elsa grabs one of his arms. "I said let her go. She obviously doesn't wish to speak with you."

Hans closes his eyes and lets out an exasperated breath before unexpectedly lashing his hand toward Elsa's face, connecting his knuckles with her mouth, and sending the platinum blonde toppling to the ground.

Anna watches in horror as Hans lets her go and turns toward the older woman who is attempting to lift herself from the ground.

_This isn't happening. This can't be happening. _Anna feels herself sobering up as the need to stop Hans from hurting Elsa anymore than he already has builds inside of her. She moves forward and grabs on to his arm in an attempt to hold him back. "Leave her alone, Hans. She has nothing to do with this."

Elsa rises to her feet and Hans flings Anna from his arm, sending her to the ground. "She has everything to do with this," he yells. "She's the reason you think you're _actually _worth shit without me. You're nothing, Anna."

Hans turns back to Elsa, but before he can make a move, the platinum blonde drives the heel of her hand into his nose before stomping down on one of his feet and firmly planting a knee between his legs. He lets out a loud, anguished grunt as he collapses to the ground.

Elsa steps around him and makes her way to Anna, scooping the younger girl over her shoulder, and quickly heads toward her car.

When she gets to the black vehicle she places Anna in the passenger seat with as much care as she can manage in this situation. She then shuts the door and walks to the driver's side. When she gets in she turns to Anna, anger pooling in her eyes. "Put on your seatbelt."

Anna does as commanded and Elsa starts the car.

The first half of the car ride is filled with an intense silence, almost identical to the night when Elsa had picked Anna up from the gas station.

Anna can't help but stare at the older woman's swollen, bleeding lip. Elsa had gotten hurt and it was all her fault. If she had never dragged Elsa into her and Hans's relationship, the platinum blonde could be safe at home, away from all of this trouble.

"Where are we going," Anna asks quietly after several minutes of nothingness.

"I'm taking you back to my place so I can keep an eye on you. I'm not sure how much you had to drink, but I'm guessing it was a lot." Elsa's voice is brusque and Anna can't figure out which part of the night ha her upset the most.

She shifts in her seat, feeling guilty about all of her actions the past few hours. "I'm actually feeling pretty sober... or at least a lot better than I was half an hour ago. You don't have to do this-"

"I know I don't have to do this, Anna," Elsa snaps. "I'm doing this because I freaking care about you, and I don't know how else to make that any clearer- but apparently it's all just going over your head."

"I'm sorry I called you, Elsa. I wasn't trying to put you through this."

Elsa's body relaxes and she looks over at Anna, concerned etched on her face. "I'm glad you called me. If I hadn't showed up… who knows what Hans would have done. Why were you out there alone, anyway? Why were you drinking so much?"

Anna shrugs as she turns to look out her window. "I just wanted some air," she says softly. "And I wanted to see if I could find something to fill your shoes. Something that would make me feel as happy as _you_ make me feel."

"Anna I wasn't kidding about what I said-"

"I know that, Elsa," Anna says, turning back to the older woman. "Maybe I just like you because you helped me… like you said. Trust me, I'm not dying to jump back into another relationship… but what I do know for sure… and what I _do _like is having you around… in any capacity. You make me feel normal and happy… and most importantly- you make me feel safe."

"That's all I want," Elsa replies, softly. "I just want you to be happy and safe. Ever since I saw you in the lobby of my building I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."

Anna freezes and her heartbeat slows to a crawl. She isn't sure she heard Elsa correctly, but if she did… _I thought it was just me who couldn't stop thinking about her._

Elsa takes in a deep breath before continuing. "I'm not great with people, but I wanted to help you. To reach out to you. I never meant for you to think that..." She pauses. "You deserve better than me."

"I think you should let me decide for myself what I deserve…" Anna pauses, taking a moment to straighten out her thoughts. "But I guess it's safe to say that neither one of us is in a good place right now."

Elsa doesn't respond and the two sit in silence until they reach the tower Elsa lives in. She pulls into the garage connected to the building and turns into a parking spot, turning off the car. "Yeah," she whispers, looking down at her hands- seemingly picking up where the conversation left off. "Being together probably isn't such a good idea."

"Yeah," Anna laughs, unsure of why her brain is somehow finding this funny. "I don't know why I ever thought that it would be."

Elsa takes off her seatbelt and pulls the keys from the ignition, before turning to face Anna. "Maybe you just thought that I would make you happy, and you wanted to go after that happiness- even if you could potentially get hurt."

Anna turns to face Elsa, and finds the older woman's deep blue eyes looking intently into hers. "Yeah." Her voice comes out softer than she intended it to, and she can't figure out why the air is becoming so thin. "I think that sounds about right."

Elsa leans forward and Anna's breath hitches, her eyes dropping to the older woman's lips. She swallows and instinctively licks her own. She's never wanted to be kissed more than she does in this moment.

Elsa stops short, reaching down to unbuckle Anna's seatbelt. "I'm not going to kiss you."

"What," Anna breathes, her voice giving away how upset she is by the statement.

Elsa leans back and draws in a breath. "I really want to… but you're drunk and you might regret this… and if _this_ happens I want you to be sure." She pauses and runs a hand through her hair. "Have coffee with me tomorrow?"

Anna closes her eyes, slightly upset by the fact she wouldn't get to kiss Elsa tonight, but she was finally getting somewhere with the platinum blonde. She opens her eyes with a small smile. "Okay, it's a date."


	10. Better Luck Next Time

"The few days that I lived with you… I never once saw you drink any coffee." Anna looks to Elsa questioningly as they exit the parking garage where Elsa dropped off her car.

The older woman stops once they're out of the structure and on the somewhat busy sidewalk. "I don't drink it much… You've just never seen me outside of work or the apartment during the daytime, so I figured it would be a nice place to start."

Elsa holds out a hand but Anna doesn't immediately take it. She doesn't know what the older woman is implying by the gesture. _Is she trying to hold my hand? _

Elsa lets her hand fall lamely back to her side as she gives Anna a questioning look. "So… no hand holding," she asks, tentatively. When the younger woman doesn't respond she starts nodding her head. "Okay, no hand holding," she says with finality. "I guess we can just take this really slow. That never hurt anyone… I don't think."

Elsa turns and begins to walk, but Anna remains glued to her spot. _She wanted to hold your hand, you idiot. Hold her damn hand. _Anna quickly runs behind the taller woman, grabbing her hand, and interlocking their fingers.

She gives Elsa a warm smile as their steps fall in line. "Hand holding is perfectly okay."

Elsa nods and gives Anna's hand a squeeze. "The coffee shop is just down the street. This is one of the only places where I don't mind drinking the coffee."

Anna isn't paying much attention to what Elsa is saying. She's too caught up in the fact that she is holding hands with the platinum blonde, in public. _This is really happening. _

Elsa leads her across the street to a small establishment that Anna had never seen before, despite living in Arendelle her entire life. _I really should get out more._

She then releases Anna's hand, grabbing the door handle and holding it open for the younger woman to enter. "You should maybe look for us a place to sit, and I'll get the drinks. What would you like?"

Anna briefly looks to the menu of options hanging above the counter where the register sits, before deciding that most just seem too complicated. "I'll just have a regular coffee," she says with a small laugh. "I'm not really used to coffee shops so it's all a little confusing."

Elsa gives her a warm smile as she reaches out and softly caresses the freckled woman's arm. "It's okay. This place has great everything. Do you want anything to eat?"

Anna shrugs, not wanting to ask for too much. She knows Elsa will want to pay for their little outing, and she doesn't want to order more than she needs to. "I'm not really that hungry."

"Sure you are," Elsa says with a wink. "You lived with me for just a few days and I had to restock my fridge like five times. I'll get you something chocolatey."

Elsa walks away and Anna takes in a deep breath. _Get it together, Anna. How are you nervous? You lived with her. _She takes another deep breath before turning to search for an empty table.

She finds one by the window and takes a seat, surreptitiously chancing glances in Elsa's direction as the platinum blonde waits in line. Anna doesn't think she could ever get tired of how beautiful Elsa is.

Elsa is tall, slim, and the way that her jeans are hanging from her hips is driving Anna insane. Once or twice the older woman runs her long fingers through her somewhat messy platinum blonde hair. _I want to run my fingers through her hair._

Anna takes in a sharp breath at the uninvited thought and buries her face in her hands as she feels her cheeks begin to heat up. She takes a moment, attempting to control her thoughts, before lifting her head.

When she raises it her eyes meet Elsa's, who is walking toward her, carrying a tray. "Penny for your thoughts," she chirps as she sets the tray down on the table.

_Just thinking about running my hands through your hair. _Elsa hands Anna a cup of coffee with a leaf pattern imprinted in the milk. _How do they do that?_

The older woman then slides a very delicious looking, extra chocolatey brownie in Anna's direction before taking a seat and crossing her legs. The younger girl is perplexed by how at ease Elsa looks. _Why is she not as nervous as I am?_

Elsa lifts a brow, a smirk plastered on her face. "Your thoughts?"

"This brownie looks really delicious," Anna responds, her voice almost a whisper.

Elsa's smile disappears and she tilts her head, giving Anna a quizzical look. Anna swallows as she idly spins the cup of coffee on the table, watching the leaf swirl and then eventually break apart. "I- uh, this coffee smells great."

"Okay," Elsa states, flatly. "Why won't you press charges against Hans?"

_Wait… what? _Anna lifts her gaze to meet Elsa's, surprised by the unexpected question. "I thought this was a date?"

Elsa leans back in her chair, furrowing her brows. "It is."

"Well then you and I have different ideas about appropriate discussion topics for a date."

Elsa leans forward again, taking a sip of whatever she has in the cup in front of her. "I just want to find out more about you, Anna. If we're seriously considering a relationship, I need to figure out what I'm getting into."

Anna swallows as she looks down again, avoiding eye contact. She clears her throat, unsure of how to respond. "What am I? A calculated risk?"

"If you want to consider it that way, then sure. I have a lot at stake here."

"And I don't because I'm poor and no one knows who I am?" Anna can't hide the hurt in her voice.

"No," Elsa starts, her face growing concerned, "-you're more than welcome to ask questions about me. This works both ways."

Anna takes in a breath, looking back up. "I just don't want to go through that whole process- pressing charges. Honestly, no one gives a shit and I would rather just move on with my life, than continue to dwell on it."

"So you're not still in love with him, or harboring any… uncertain feelings?"

Anna furrows her brow, shaking her head. The question is almost insulting. "No. Absolutely not. Elsa, you know this."

Elsa draws in a breath and releases it. "Honestly, I wasn't sure. I'm not too happy about him striking me. You wouldn't mind if I did something about it?"

Anna shakes her head. "You're more than welcome to." She pauses. "You're not going to kill him are you?" The question is meant to be a joke, but her voice doesn't reflect the sentiment.

"I'm not in the business of killing people."

Elsa's voice is serious with no hint of amusement. Anna swallows, hard. _Why did she take that so seriously? _She pulls her cup up to her mouth, taking a sip of the coffee. It's delicious. "You look really nice today," she says, trying to pull the conversation in a different direction.

"You too, Anna. You always look beautiful."

Anna places her cup back on the table, her eyes widening. "That's what I meant… like you look nice everyday- not just today. You look beauti_fuller _than me… er- not fuller, just more beautiful. I-"

"Thanks," Elsa smiles, lifting a hand to stifle a giggle.

"Are you laughing?"

Elsa drops her hand and tilts her head, a smile still on her lips. "I guess I am. You bring out things in me that I didn't know existed."

"Is that good or bad?"

"It's great." Elsa leans forward, picking up a fork off the tray and digs it into the brownie in front of Anna. "These are great. You're going to love it." She lifts the fork to the younger woman's mouth, prompting her to eat the brownie. Anna obliges.

Elsa wasn't lying, the brownie is delicious. She watches as Anna chews, causing the freckled woman's cheeks to burn bright red. _Holy shit, I can't handle this. _

"You really are adorable," Elsa says, pulling Anna from her thoughts. "I meant it when I said I couldn't take my mind off of you."

Anna looks away, her heart fluttering. "This is all so overwhelming."

Elsa sits back, panic registering on her face. "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"

"No… It's just that you're a little too good to be true, and-"

"So was Hans?"

Anna drops her head, locking her fingers together nervously. "Yeah," she whispers. "I don't mean to compare you to him, I just-"

"Need to take a calculated risk?"

Anna lifts her head, a smile spreading across her lips. "If you want to consider it that way, then sure."

"How are you holding up?"

Anna shrugs, her smile fading with the shift in the conversation. "Sometimes I have bad dreams. It's all so shocking. I didn't think I was that affected by it, but apparently my brain has a different idea. I just keep thinking that if I ignore it, and don't talk about it… maybe it will go away."

"I used to think that," Elsa says quietly. "That's how I ended up here… and I don't mean the rich part… I mean the lonely part. I don't wish this on anyone, so if it's bothering you- maybe you should confront it."

Anna wants to ask what Elsa had to hide, but she isn't brave enough to boldly inquire into the older woman's past. "That's easier said than done."

"Well, I'll be here… as a friend. You know you can call me no matter what?"

Anna nods, giving Elsa a reassuring smile. "Crap, now I'm the one ruining the mood of our date."

Elsa lets out a small laugh and leans back in her chair. "So what exactly are we supposed to discuss? I'm not very attuned to this, so you'll have to guide me through it."

Anna smiles and sits up straight in her chair. "Well, lets see. Past relationships are a no-no. We can talk about hobbies, interests, life goals- you know, broad topics."

"Okay, lets see. I like hiking and great wine. I'm a bit of a connoisseur. I don't know about my life goals, I'm still figuring it out, but I want to be happy, you know?"

Anna takes in a breath and playfully rolls her eyes. "You really are bad at this. Here." She rolls her head around, as if she's preparing to do some sort of physical activity. "Okay, I like to eat, like a lot. I'm not afraid to take risks, and sometimes I trust people a little too easily. I really love snow and building snowmen, or waking up late at night to stare at the stars-"

"Okay, okay. Slow down, this feels like I'm speed dating."

Anna's jaw drops and she stares wide-eyed at Elsa. "Oh my God, have you done that before? I can't imagine Elsa Snow attempting to speed date."

"No," Elsa says, shaking her head. "I saw it in a show once. You're a lot to keep up with."

Anna nods, taking another a hurried sip of her coffee. "I know, that was my next point. People seem to be caught off guard, by how… _feisty_ I am."

"Feisty," Elsa smirks, lifting a brow.

The older woman's gaze burns into Anna and it sends a wave of heat straight to the younger girl's lower region. Anna crosses her legs, shifting in her seat. "Yeah," she breathes, her voice barely audible. "I, uhhh-" She runs a shaky hand through her hair. "Maybe not that word, maybe a different one."

Her throat goes dry and she reaches for the coffee, but decides a _hot_ beverage isn't what she needs in this moment. "Does this place sell water?"

"Yes," Elsa says, amused. She stands from the table. "I can get you some."

"No," Anna responds quickly, sticking a hand out to stop the older woman. "I can get it… I need to use the restroom anyway, so… I'll be right back."

"You're such a mystery," Elsa mutters, sitting back in her seat.

_What? _"Mystery? Me," Anna utters, shocked.

"Yeah, I never know what you're thinking- except when you blush… which I admittedly really like." Elsa takes in a deep breath. "I never seem to have that effect on anyone, so it's sort of refreshing."

Anna pauses and looks around the coffee shop, immediately spotting at least two people stealing glances at the platinum blonde. _Are you kidding me? _"Maybe you're just not that observant. There's nothing mysterious about me."

"You're very self-contained," Elsa mutters.

_What… who is she? _"I'm really not," Anna laughs. She leans forward, tapping her fingers on the table.

"It's over there," Elsa states, pointing off in a direction behind Anna.

"Huh?"

"The restroom." Elsa pauses. "You said you needed to go."

"Oh," Anna says quietly, no longer feeling the need to leave the table. "I changed my mind."

"See," Elsa smirks, "Mysterious."

"I get what you're trying to say, but that was an isolated incident." _I'm really not that mysterious. _

Elsa doesn't respond right away. She takes a sip of her drink and stares at Anna for a moment. "Tell me about your childhood."

_Okay, another change in subject. _"I grew up pretty poor. Like... ketchup on saltine crackers as a gourmet meal poor, you know? I think it made me better, though. I can set realistic goals, and stay optimistic, because... well I started at the bottom, so I can only go up, right?"

Elsa stares at Anna wordlessly and the freckled woman blushes again. "So," she starts, stretching out the word. "How was _your_ childhood?"

"I wasn't poor." Elsa pauses and runs her long fingers through her hair. "I still consider it the bottom, though- just like you. I didn't really grow up in an ideal situation. My father was a little... strict."

"What about your mother?" Anna swallows, nervous. It's the first time she has tried venturing into this territory.

"She was quiet."

Elsa doesn't say anything else and Anna takes it as her cue to not continue. She isn't sure how to go on with the conversation, so she takes a sip of her coffee instead.

Elsa clear her throat, lifting herself from the table. "I have some things I need to attend to. I will drop you off at your apartment." She pauses, looking into Anna's eyes. Maybe searching for a response from the younger girl. "I would like to call and check on you tonight. Will you be available?"

Anna nods. _Not doing anything else. _"Yes, of course. I'm free anytime."

"You said you have nightmares, and-"

"It's totally cool, Els. You don't need a reason to call."

Elsa smiles and sticks her hand out toward Anna. "I really like when you call me that."

Anna takes her hand and returns the smile.

They leave the restaurant and cross the street, heading back to the parking garage. Anna realizes she doesn't have much time left with the older woman. _Are we going to kiss? _She scolds herself for the thought, not wanting to ruin the date that had gone somewhat okay.

They enter the parking garage and make their way toward Elsa's car. Elsa releases Anna's hand and opens the door for her. _No kiss. _Anna gives Elsa a thankful smile before taking her seat in the car.

The drive back to Anna's apartment is held in relative silence. _Why can't we talk in cars? This is probably my fault. _When they make it back to her comparatively small place Elsa parks out front and jumps out of the car to get Anna's door.

"I can walk you up, if you want," Elsa says, somewhat nervously.

Anna shakes her head, perplexed by the platinum blonde's sudden change in demeanor. "You don't have to do that."

"Oh... well, okay," Elsa says quietly, looking everywhere but into Anna's eyes.

Anna reaches forward and grabs her hand. "But I would like it if you did," she continues, giving the older woman a slight smile.

They enter the apartment complex and walk up the three flights of stairs to Anna's apartment, kind of in a silent agreement that taking the elevator wasn't an option. They pause outside of Anna's apartment door.

"Well," Elsa starts, tentatively, "We should maybe do another date thing... some other time. I enjoyed that." Elsa shifts her weight on her heels awkwardly and it brings a smile to Anna's face.

_Now she's nervous, okay. _"I would love to go on another date thing with you, Els."

Elsa blushes and looks away, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Well then it's settled. We can discuss details later."

Anna takes a step forward, her confidence rising as Elsa's falls. "You know, you really are adorable," she muses, quirking her lips into a smile.

Elsa looks back to Anna and lets out a small breathy laugh. "I wanted to kiss you, but I just got really nervous for no good reason... and my legs feel all... like jell-o."

"Yeah?" Anna furrows her brow in mock interest as she tries to hold back a laugh. Elsa nods. "Well," Anna turns, twisting her key in the door and places her hand on the handle, "-better luck next time, I guess." She gives Elsa a smile before opening her door and shutting it behind her.

She then leans her back against it and listens for the sound of Elsa walking away. She closes her eyes with a smile. _Now she knows how I felt last night. _Her eyes fling open and the smile leaves her lips. _Am I playing hard to get?_


	11. Cold-Hearted?

"Anna, what do you find sexy?" Kristoff looks up from the pile of papers in front of him, running a hand through his already frazzled hair with a despondent look on his face. "I just never enjoy going with the whole sex-sells idea."

Anna shrugs, giving him a big goofy grin. "Are you honestly asking _me_? My idea of sexy is an oversized mug of microwaved hot chocolate and a couple or Reese's peanut butter cups."

Kristoff laughs as he plops his head down on his desk. "Why can't every woman be more like you," he asks, his voice muffled by the large stack of papers that his face is buried in.

Anna shakes her head, slightly blushing at the sentiment. "I'm really not that great. I mean if you want to discuss great women you'd just have to look at Elsa-"

"Elsa," Kristoff interrupts, lifting his head. "Elsa Snow? Ms. Snow? Our boss? Are you serious right now? I'm pretty sure if every woman was like her, the world would just freeze over and go into a permanent ice age."

Anna rolls her eyes as her smile fades. "Not you too, Kristoff."

"Well, not me until recently. Look," he says, his voice dropping into a whisper. "Between you and me- she's been laying off people left and right with no rhyme or reason. She is making my job a living hell, and I've been doing nothing but giving one hundred and ten percent." He pauses, the volume of his voice rising once again. "So yeah, I feel like she's a little icy."

"You just don't know her, Kristoff. I'm pretty sure she has a very good reason for firing people." _Or I at least hope so._

"I don't know her? Anna, you're new here so let me tell you something. Do you know why she's called the Ice Queen?"

Anna nods. "Yeah, some reporter gave her the name, so-"

"Yeah, some reporter gave her the name because of what she did. Have you ever heard of someone named John Weselton?"

Anna shakes her head. "No."

"Yeah, that's because Elsa freaking ruined him. They were partners and Elsa was gonna take Northern Lights public, but she instead made a different move with the company- leaving him high and dry and without a job, while she rose to being mega rich and a mega bitch."

"_Kristoff_!"

"I'm just saying, Anna," he starts, holding up a hand, "-people were pretty shocked by it, and she showed no remorse. She cut ties with someone she had been close to for years, and didn't even think twice about it. I don't know about you, but I'd never want to be with a woman who could just do that."

_What?_ Anna slinks down in her chair, unsure of what to think about what Kristoff just told her. If this was true, then that was a side of Elsa that she had never seen before, and that was something she didn't think the older woman could be capable of doing.

"I'm sure she had a reason for cutting the ties," Anna finally whispers.

"Yeah," Kristoff starts, "-it was an excellent financial move for _her_. Weselton was bringing her down, so in her eyes he was a necessary casualty. Nothing comes between Elsa and her money. It's the only thing she has room enough for in her heart."

Anna looks down at her phone and watches as the time changes to six thirty. "I think we should call it quits for the night, Kristoff. We can get the rest done tomorrow. I'm sure we'll do fine in the meeting. Elsa really isn't that bad."

Kristoff nods as he takes in a deep breath. "If you want to believe that she's such a great person, then it really isn't my place to tell you otherwise. I'm just trying to give you the cold hard facts about the things she's done."

Anna stands and exits Kristoff's small office, heading toward her desk to shut everything down. She then grabs her bag and her jacket and walks toward the elevators.

Kristoff joins her during the wait. "Look, Anna. I'm really sorry about that bitch comment. I'm stressed out and its been a long day. I didn't mean anything by it… I don't make it a habit of being disrespectful toward women."

Anna shrugs as she knots her fingers together. "Don't worry about it, Kristoff. I know you're a good guy. Just try not to judge her so hard… we have no idea what she's going through."

The elevator arrives and Kristoff gestures toward the open space. "After you." He smiles as he steps in behind Anna. "I'm not sure if this is inappropriate so just let me know if it is, but are you seeing anyone?"

Anna inhales sharply, caught off guard by the unexpected question. She opens her mouth and then closes it again, before repeating that same process two more times. "I uhhh, well I'm not in a _relationship_. I'm kind of dating someone, well we went on _a _date?"

"Is it exclusive this early on?"

Anna clears her throat, shaking her head. "I guess we haven't discussed that."

Kristoff shrugs nonchalantly, before turning to face Anna. "I just wanted to know if I'd be stepping on anyone's toes if I asked you to go to this charity dinner with me? One of my accounts was so impressed- that I got an invite, and there's room for a plus one. I sort of… immediately thought of you."

Anna remains silent, contemplating whether or not she should say yes. She hadn't really thought about it before, but now she isn't sure if she should limit herself to just Elsa, or if she should keep other options open. She hadn't really been on the market in a while.

The elevator doors open and Kristoff steps out first. "It's okay. You don't have to answer me now. It's just an option. I won't ask anyone else if you say no. Just let me know if you reach a decision."

He walks off and Anna closes her eyes, too tired to even begin to think about how to respond. She just needed to get home so she could get some much needed rest.

— — —

Anna groggily lifts her head, trying to figure out if someone knocked on the door or if it had just been a part of her dream. She looks down and desperately tries to wipe the drool from the black cushion of the small Ikea couch that she'd gotten from the Home Shopping Network for six easy payments of $69.95.

In fact almost all of the furniture in her house was from Ikea- the post college apartment mecca- and came in installments of five or six easy payments. Perfect for Anna.

The knock comes again and she lets out a frustrated moan. _Why me?_ After her long first day back at work she didn't really have the energy to be bothered, and it was probably one of her neighbor's many girlfriends knocking on the wrong apartment door again.

Anna gets off the couch and slowly shuffles to the front door, annoyed beyond reason at her sleep being disrupted. She looks through the peephole and instead of finding a lost stranger, she finds Elsa- holding a pizza in one hand, and beer in the other.

Anna quickly tries to straighten her appearance, before realizing that Elsa had already seen her in every form- including half dead and fully naked.

She then lets out a resigned breath and opens the door. "What are you doing here, Els," she asks sleepily, secretly glad that the platinum blonde was there. She hadn't had a chance to see her at work.

Elsa takes in a deep breath and looks around. "I didn't know if I was allowed to show up, and I was afraid that if I called you'd say no… so here I am. I brought pizza... and beer. I know you worked late... and maybe missed dinner?"

Anna nods as she closes her eyes. She hadn't eaten anything since the chocolate muffin she had for breakfast early that morning. She opens her eyes and gives Elsa a slight smile. "I, for some odd reason, can't imagine you eating pizza."

Elsa returns the smile with a wink. "If you let me in, you won't have to use your imagination. You can just watch it happen."

Anna steps aside, giving Elsa enough room to enter. As she watches the older woman walk in she becomes slightly self conscious, suddenly aware at how minute her apartment was compared to Elsa's.

Unlike most empty spaces that looked bigger with furniture, Anna's apartment had shrank to half it's size once all of her things had been added. "You're always welcome here, but if you want to sleep over- you should know that I only have one bed," she says with a laugh, trying to distract the platinum blonde from the size of the space.

Elsa lifts a brow with, what Anna deems, a salacious smile. "Really?"

Anna brings her hand up to her face, blushing. "Crap, I didn't mean that as like an invitation for-"

"Oh," Elsa, exclaims, her eyes widening. "Yeah. I know. Yeah, that's not why I'm here… I just really wanted to hang out with you… and maybe talk about some stuff."

Elsa walks to the living area and places the food down on the table before taking a seat on Anna's couch.

Anna walks over, hoping Elsa didn't notice the probably still drying wet spot of drool, and takes a seat next to the older woman. "What do you want to talk about," she asks, quickly sitting on top of the shameful area.

"We don't have to jump in right away." Elsa turns to face Anna, smiling when she meets the younger woman's eyes. "We can just… how did your day go?"

Anna shrugs with a sigh. "Everyone is freaking out because apparently you're on a rampage and firing everyone in sight. I had to listen to you being called every variation of a play on Ice Queen the entire day."

"Is that so," Elsa asks, her smile fading. "I run a multi-billion dollar corporation, and somehow everyone thinks that I'm just letting employees go on a whim? Like, women aren't really capable of controlling their emotions, right?"

Elsa runs an exasperated hand through her hair, turning away from Anna and scratching at the fabric of her jeans. Anna takes in a breath, caught off guard by how offended Elsa had become by her statements.

Elsa lifts her face up to the ceiling as she continues to speak. "I can't possibly be letting people go because they are incapable of performing their duties to the standards that I deem necessary to ensure the success of _my_ corporation."

"I'm sure that's not what they mean," Anna starts, trying to diffuse the situation before it gets out of hand.

Elsa drops her head and stares into Anna's eyes. "No, Anna. That is _exactly_ what they mean. I've had to deal with this for a long time, so while you may have thought those little offhanded comments were not that important, I feel it is hurtful, disrespectful, and honestly just outright inconsiderate of me and my integrity."

Anna reaches over and takes Elsa's hand into hers. "I'm really sorry about that, Elsa. I had no idea that this bothered you that much. I figured it just came with job, regardless of… well, anything. Is that why you came here to talk?"

Elsa shakes her head. "No, I can deal with that. I'm pretty used to it by now, I guess."

"Then why did you come here, Elsa? Talk to me."

Elsa pulls her hand from under Anna's and folds her arms across her chest, guardedly. "I just... Hans really hurt you and you just want to pretend like it didn't happen. Something about that doesn't sit right with me, and I just need you to paint me a clearer picture."

_What? You've got to be kidding me. This again?_ "Yes. I- maybe I didn't choose my words wisely enough in the coffee shop. I'm over Hans. I do sometimes have nightmares because he hurt me- physically… but that's... those bruises are healing."

Elsa shakes her head, her anger from the previous topic visibly fading. "You keep saying you're fine, but something is bothering you. Why won't you just admit it? This is never going to work out if you don't," she says softly, looking into Anna's eyes.

"There's nothing to admit, Elsa."

"You didn't let me kiss you," Elsa starts, quietly, "-and you can give a billion reasons for why you didn't, but I think you just weren't ready… and it probably has something to do with your last relationship."

"Is that what this is about? Honestly, Elsa- that was just me being dumb. Please don't read too much into that."

Elsa lets out a sigh. "Please, just talk to me. Help me understand. I'm really trying here."

Anna takes in a breath and looks away, pressing her lips into a flat line. "I wanna talk to you about it, but it's kind of stupid."

"I'm sure it's not stupid. Just tell me whats going on in your head. Tell me, and maybe I can help you." Elsa reaches over and places a hand on Anna's arm. The touch is just enough to get Anna to finally open up.

She takes in a breath and releases it as the words come spilling out. "I don't run, Elsa. I'm the type of person who sticks around through the good, the bad, the ugly, and the _really_ ugly… and it isn't because I'm naive- it's because I care."

Anna pauses, searching Elsa's eyes for a sign that she should continue. The older woman nods and gives her arm a squeeze. "It's okay, Anna."

Anna nods and continues to speak. "I somehow see the best in everyone, but… there is no best in Hans… and that makes me sad. I lost a little faith in humanity… and that felt like losing a part of myself. That hurt me more than his punches ever could."

"So you think that if you pretend it didn't happen, you'll just forget about it? That's not going to work, Anna. You're just going to let it fester, and then it's going to affect _us_. Do you want us to actually work, or am I just something to take your mind off of Hans?"

"I want this to work," Anna replies, quickly. She lifts a hand to move a strand of Elsa's hair behind her ear. _She's scared. _For some reason the thought makes Anna smile.

"This feeling isn't going to affect you and me and what we have," she states, reassuringly. "Don't you see that? At the exact moment that I lost a piece of myself, you came in to give it back to me. It's taking me a little time to accept it, but you are managing to help restore my faith in humanity."

Elsa drops her hand from Anna's arm and knots her fingers together, looking down into her lap. "You think way too highly of me. I'm not as perfect as you're making me seem."

"I don't think you're perfect. You just... _keep_ doing these things that might make you uncomfortable, because you think I'm worth taking a chance. Your feelings are so… pure and genuine. You keep pushing me away like you're not good for me. Someone or something made you think you were capable of hurting people, or that you can _only_ hurt people, when that is _not_ true…"

Anna pauses and reaches for Elsa's chin, gently lifting the older woman's head. When their eyes meet she gives her a warm smile. "I don't care how long it takes me to convince you of this, Elsa Snow, but I am going to make you believe that your heart is not full of ice- but full of love and warmth and-" _Oh wow._

Anna snaps her eyes shut as she takes in the enchanting sensation of Elsa's lips pressed against hers. A kiss was the last thing she expected in this moment, but then again she was never really able to predict what the older woman was going to do.

Elsa's lips feel soft and warm… then, just as quickly as the kiss started, it ends. Elsa slips away and Anna lifts her head, her eyes pleading for the platinum blonde to come back.

"Sorry," Elsa blushes, "I just really… I'm really sorry about that, Anna. I should have given you some warning."

"No… It's okay," Anna whispers, not knowing what else to say. She can't figure out how something so brief could be that great, or maybe she just hadn't been kissed in a while.

"No, I'm sorry," Elsa whispers.

Anna places a hand on Elsa's thigh as she presses a quick, gentle kiss to the older woman's lips. "Well, apology accepted," she smiles, wanting the older woman to know exactly how the kiss made her feel.

Elsa's cheeks turn bright red as she looks back down at her lap. "This is hard for me… and a lot to get used to, but for once in my life I'm not going to let my fear control me."

"If people knew the Elsa that I know-"

"I know, Anna," Elsa interrupts, softly. "I'm working on that. I really am. Being with you is so refreshing. It's like taking a step back and looking at things from a different perspective. It's funny how a little distance makes everything seem so small."

Anna smiles and leans her head against Elsa's shoulder. "I'm really glad to hear that… but right now I kind of just want to see you shoving pizza in your face, so lets get to it."

Elsa looks up, her body relaxing a bit. "I got pepperoni because I figured you can't really go wrong with that option."

Anna leans forward and opens the box, grabbing a slice and slipping it between her teeth as she reaches for a beer. She then pops the top off the beer and pulls the pizza out of her mouth, biting off a piece in the process. "When it comes to me, you can't go wrong with _any_ food."

Anna takes a sip of her beer as Elsa leans forward and hovers her hand over the pizza. Elsa then pulls back and looks to the younger girl. "Do you have any plates… or utensils?"

Anna shakes her head. "No, I don't own any of that. You're just gonna have to grab that greasy slice of deliciousness straight out of the box with your dainty little fingers."

Elsa looks hesitant as she taps her fingers against her kneecap. "Fine, but do you at least have a napkin?"

Anna smiles as she dangles her slice of pizza in front of Elsa. "Here, just take a bite of mine. That way you get to eat, and only I get messy."

Elsa opens her mouth and Anna pushes the pizza forward, missing slightly- pressing it against Elsa's cheek. "Shit, sorry," Anna giggles, "I guess I have really bad aim. You got a little something on your cheek."

Elsa rolls her eyes and lifts her hand to wipe the sauce away. "I think you did that on purpose," she mutters.

"Really, Sherlock? Tell me how you deduced that." Anna smiles broadly as she points at the box. "Grab a piece of pizza. You promised I'd get to see you do this."

Elsa reaches forward, taking a slice between her fingers with as little contact as possible. "Fine, I'll do this your way."

* * *

An entire six-pack of beer and one large pepperoni pizza later- Elsa and Anna are cozied together on the couch, half dazed in a post-food-binge stupor.

Elsa has her arm draped around Anna's shoulder and Anna has her head nuzzled just under Elsa's chin, her ear pressed against the older woman's shoulder. One of her hands rests awkwardly against Elsa's side, and the other sits on the upper part of Elsa's thigh.

"You seem to have a knack for home decorating," Elsa states, breaking their long period of peaceful silence.

Anna lets out a small giggle as she presses her face deeper into Elsa's chest. "Yeah I bought some preframed black-and-white pictures to complement the deep red roughness of my much-hyped exposed brick wall. I'm just your everyday Martha Stewart." She pauses as she lets out a small laugh. "I'm pretty sure exposed brick is just code for unfinished."

Elsa takes in a breath and lets out a small moan as she tries to stretch out her body. "Beats me, I just paid someone to decorate my place." She brings her free hand up to her stomach, rubbing the area as she frowns.

Anna instinctively lifts her hand and gently slips it under the platinum blonde's button down shirt, her palm resting against Elsa's warm, bare flesh- eliciting another small moan from the older woman.

Anna begins to swirls her hand in soft methodical circles over the area. "My Mom used to do this whenever I had a tummy ache. I always thought it helped out." She glances up and notices Elsa's eyes fighting to stay open, before finally giving up and remaining closed.

Anna lets out a small laugh as Elsa's breathing slows to a deep, even rhythm- accompanied by a light snore. She then lifts her head and presses a soft kiss to the sleeping woman's cheek. "How could anyone ever think that you're cold-hearted?"


	12. Buckle Down

When Anna wakes the house is dark and silent, and she figures it has to be somewhere between two and four in the morning. She is usually able to sleep through the entire night, so she can't figure out what prompted her to wake up at this odd time.

Elsa moans and shifts restlessly underneath her, and she realizes what had disturbed her from her sleep. The sounds the older woman is making are pained and the hiss of her breath tormented.

"Just... conceal," Elsa breathes out, shifting her weight underneath the freckled woman.

Anna takes in a deep breath as she tries to figure out how to appropriately wake Elsa from what looks to be a nightmare. "Hey… Els," she whispers quietly, trying not to startle the platinum blonde. "It's okay, Elsa. Wake up. Come back to me."

She lifts her fingers to Elsa's face, gently pushing a strand of hair from her cheek, but the older woman quickly snaps her head to one side, her eyes remaining closed. "No! Don't touch me! Don't touch me," she yells, violently thrusting her hand upward and making contact with Anna's nose.

"Oh, _shit,_" Anna groans as she falls from the couch, her nose throbbing from the blow, and her elbow aching from the fall. _I wasn't expecting that._ She lifts herself to a sitting position and feels the cool sensation of something wet on her lips. She then brings a finger up to the area, pulling it back and realizing that it's blood.

Anna cups her nose and tentatively sticks out a hand toward Elsa, but retracts it, figuring she doesn't need the incident that just happened to be repeated. Elsa twists a few more times, still mumbling to herself.

Anna clears her throat, this time speaking a little louder. "Elsa. You're dreaming. You need to wake up." Her voice is somewhat nasally from her cupping her nose, but it's firm.

Elsa's body stills, abruptly, and she lies tense and expectant, her chest heaving with her panting breaths.

"It's okay, Elsa. Come back to me," Anna speaks again, firmly, even though her heart is breaking.

Elsa's body deflates into the couch and her breathing starts to slow. "Anna…?"

Anna shifts forward, softly placing her free hand on Elsa's arm. "I'm here." She searches Elsa's face but sees no white gleam to let her know that the older woman's eyes are open. "Are you awake?"

Elsa's breathing slows back to normal, but she doesn't speak. Her knuckles are white from gripping at whatever fabric she can manage to cling to on the couch.

Anna pulls her t-shirt up to her nose for a better way to stop the bleeding, as she continues to gently stroke Elsa's arm. "Elsa?"

Elsa's eyes fling open and she quickly looks to Anna, alarmed. "What? What is it? Where am I?" She slowly looks around the room as realization starts to dawn on her, then her eyes settle back on the younger woman. "What's wrong with your nose? What happened?"

Anna shakes her head. "Nothing, I just-"

"Did I do that," Elsa asks, panic rising in her voice as she props herself up on her elbow. "Fuck, Anna. Did I do that?"

"No," Anna blurts out, stopping as she slams her eyes shut. "I mean yes, but it was an accident. It's okay." She opens her eyes and tries to look to Elsa reassuringly, but she can tell from the look in Elsa's eyes that the older woman has already started to pull away mentally.

"I'll be right back. I need to take care of this," Anna says as she stands from the floor and heads toward the bathroom. She turns on a lamp on her way out of the living room to light the dark space.

Anna makes it to the bathroom and quickly grabs a towel and wets it before placing it under her nose, making sure the bleeding stops.

When it finally manages to come to a halt she washes her hands and slips out of her bloody t-shirt. She turns to get another, but finds Elsa standing in the doorway, holding her keys.

The older woman shifts nervously, looking down at the floor, then back at Anna. "I really should leave. I shouldn't have fallen asleep. I shouldn't be here. I'm so sorry." She looks dispirited, tears pooling in her eyes, and her voice sounds as if it's ready to crack at any moment.

Anna slowly walks toward her holding up a hand. "This isn't your fault, Elsa. I-" She pauses as she stops right in front of Elsa, lifting her hand to the older woman's cheek. "I never noticed before, but you have these really really light freckles," she whispers, running her thumb across the platinum blonde's cheek.

Elsa turns, a tear escaping from her eye. "I really should go, Anna."

"If you really want to leave, you can… but I want you to stay. I really want you to stay… and I'm hoping that if there's a small part of you that wants to stay, that you will listen to it… even if you think it goes against your better judgement."

Elsa turns back toward Anna, leaning her face into the younger woman's hand. "How could you want me to stay after I did that?"

"It was an accident," Anna replies, softly. "Don't beat yourself up about it. I'm more worried about what had you so upset in your sleep. Was it the dream about the spikes?"

Elsa shakes her head. "Not this time."

"Well," Anna starts, running her thumb across Elsa's cheek once more, "-we should go back to bed, and you should let me take care of you. Whenever I had a nightmare as a kid my Mom would hold me. She said being held and loved could push the specters back into the closet for a little while."

"Your mom sounds like a great woman," Elsa whispers.

"She was."

* * *

— — —

Anna slides from under Elsa's arm as gently and as quietly as humanly possible, in order to not disturb the peacefully sleeping platinum blonde.

She hadn't slept much since Elsa and her had gone back to bed, so she figured she would just get up early and get the shower ready for the older woman.

Anna's shower is sort of horrific, if not used correctly. The first night she had used it she was startled by the high-pitched squealing noise it made for the first five minutes that it was on.

The water had remained lukewarm throughout the duration of the shower until just before Anna had stepped out into the freezing bathroom, at which point the water turned scalding.

She went through three days of that torture before she came up with her current routine in which she runs from her bed, turns on the shower fifteen minutes early, and then returns back to her covers. After she snoozes the alarm clock three more times she finally gets up for round two with the shower. At this point the mirrors would be steamed up from the gloriously hot -although somewhat trickling- water.

She doesn't want Elsa to have to figure out the system the hard way, like she did.

Anna sits down on the edge of her bathtub-shower hybrid and turns on the water, closing her eyes as she takes in the soothing sound of the white noise.

She was glad that Elsa had decided to stay the rest of the night, even if it meant that the platinum blonde was going to use all of the hot water. _I don't mind taking a cold shower whenever Elsa spends the night._ She opens her eyes as she laughs at the humor in the thought.

"What's so funny?"

Anna jerks her head to the side, startled by the unexpected voice interrupting her thoughts. Elsa stands before her, eyes tired, with no pants on. The uncommon sight brings another smile to Anna's face. "Nothing is funny. I'm just-"

"Your shower is making a weird noise," Elsa whispers, her face twisting in confusion.

"Yeah," Anna nods, "-it does that sometimes."

"Is it safe?"

Anna shrugs as she clears her throat, looking back and forth from the shower to Elsa. "I think so…"

"Good," Elsa starts, her face relaxing a bit, "-I really need to wash this pizza smell off of me."

"Well," Anna says, standing from her spot, "-you're going to have wait about fifteen minutes… Just... don't ask why. Do you have anything to wear…?"

Elsa nods as she lazily points over her shoulder. "Yeah, I brought an overnight bag… just in case I spent the night. It's in my car."

"Are you always this prepared for everything?"

"Sorry," Elsa replies with a shy smile, "It's sort of a habit… being prepared for everything… well _most_ things." She looks to Anna apologetically.

Anna walks forward, getting as close as possible to Elsa, without touching her. She leans her face in close to the older woman's. "Well I think someone took their college game theory class a little too seriously."

Elsa slides her arms around Anna's waist and pulls the freckled woman in closer. "Is it that obvious?" She pauses, clearing her throat. "Hey… uhm, I have this business dinner tonight and I was thinking if… maybe you went with me… it would be a little more bearable."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah," Elsa whispers, looking down into Anna's eyes, "-if that's okay with you."

"Of course it is," Anna replies with a smile. "It just seems like a pretty big step for you. Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Positive. Especially after last night. I've woken up plenty of times to find my pillows and covers scattered... I thought you'd run away, but... no one has ever been there to soothe me after I had a nightmare."

"Well," Anna shrugs, "I told you last night that I'm not really the type to run away. I'm here for you."

Elsa smiles, her eyes lighting up with gratitude. "You have no idea how happy that makes me."

"I think I kind of have an idea." Anna lifts herself on her toes and presses a soft, lingering kiss to Elsa's lips. "I'll go get your bag from your car and bring it up to you."

Anna exits the bathroom, throwing a light jacket over her shoulders and grabbing Elsa's keys, before heading out the front door. She steps outside into the frigid air and takes a mental note that she's going to need to wear more than a light jacket when she actually leaves the apartment. She looks around searching for Elsa's car, spotting it toward the end of the block.

Minutes later she quickly shuffles back into the welcome warmth of her apartment holding Elsa's white and black Chanel duffle bag. _Who even knew these were a thing? _

Anna walks back to the bathroom and knocks on the now closed door. "Hey Els, I have your bag."

"Just throw it in, I'm in the shower," a voice calls back.

Anna does as commanded before turning back to the bedroom to pick out something to wear. Kristoff has his meeting today and she wants to look nice, just in case he asks her to join him again.

After going through her entire closet she decides to wear the lilac button down that she had only worn once before, when she was in college.

As Anna is finishing picking out her outfit, Elsa exits the bathroom wearing a navy-colored cashmere sweater that looked like it was spun from blue clouds, and underneath it a navy button down sprinkled with little golden flowers. _Why do I even try?_ Anna stares wide-eyed at the image of perfection standing in front of her.

Elsa laughs shyly, looking down at her clothes. "What are you staring at? Is there something on my shirt."

"No," Anna says, shaking her head, "-you look perfect." She smiles awkwardly at Elsa before taking her clothes from the bed. "Well I guess I should shower, gotta hurry if I want to get to work on time."

"We have plenty of time, it's like a fifteen minute drive."

"Oh," Anna says, stopping in her tracks. "You have a car, right… and you can drive me. I didn't really-"

"Did you think I was just gonna leave you here to get to work on your own," Elsa laughs, taking a step toward the younger girl.

"No, well I guess I didn't really think about it. I didn't want to just assume, you know?"

"You… helped me last night... when that was something you definitely didn't sign up for." Elsa pauses, looking away from Anna as she runs a hand through her bangs, pushing them back. "And you didn't even expect me to give you a ride to work. I don't understand how someone can be as selfless as you."

Anna shrugs. "I don't know. I was just being me. I didn't realize I was doing anything special."

Elsa looks back to Anna with a smile. "What did I ever do to deserve someone like you in my life?"

"Well you stuck by my side through my worst, so now you get to enjoy me at my somewhat best… or however the Marilyn Monroe quote goes." Anna lets out a laugh as she continues to walk toward the bathroom. "Don't sell yourself short, Els. You deserve a lot more than you think you do."

— — —

Anna places her head down on her desk, letting out a deep sigh as her severe lack of sleep finally starts to catch up with her. Kristoff must have noticed how worn out she is, because he gave her a half hour break after working through the entire morning.

She lifts her head and drops it back to the desk roughly, trying to knock some life into herself. It only manages to give her a slight headache.

Anna feels a hand on her shoulder and she slowly lifts her head to see Bethany. The normally welcome sight of her new found friend only makes her more tired. The brunette gives her shoulder a squeeze as she tilts her head to the left. "Come on, Anna. I need to talk to you."

Anna reluctantly stands and Bethany drags her to an empty conference room, locking the door behind them. Anna takes in a deep breath as she sits down at the large table in the center. "What do you want to talk about, Beth?"

Bethany takes a seat next her, placing a hand on the strawberry-blonde's knee. "Despite the fact that you're tired as shit, you've had this serious glow all day. You totally _got some_ last night. So spill it."

Anna shakes her head, briefly closing her eyes. "Beth I am not doing this. I didn't get anything last night," she says with a smile, reopening her eyes. She fixes the woman with a hard stare, trying to show some semblance of resolve in her eyes.

"Bullshit."

Anna takes in a deep breath at the one word response, realizing she won't make it out of this situation so easily. "I just spent some time with someone I really like. Well, they showed up unexpectedly. I don't know."

Bethany releases a frustrated sigh, leaning back in her chair. "C'mon Anna, don't leave me hanging here. My love life is lacking, so I need you. What's his name? Is he hot? Is _it _big?"

Anna opens her mouth to protest, but closes it before any words come out, and clears her throat instead. "Well, it's not really a he-"

"Oh my God," Bethany exclaims, leaning forward again. "I totally didn't know you were batting for the other team. I mean why would I… but whoa. Was _she _hot?"

Anna clears her throat again and does a slow once over of the conference room. "Yeah… hot is definitely a word I'd use to describe her."

Bethany starts to shake her legs, nearly bouncing in her chair with excitement. "Don't be so cryptic, Anna. Spill the damn beans. I want all the details."

Anna bites down on her lip. "Well," she starts, her voice dropping to a whisper, "-What would you say if I said that _she_ is Elsa Snow? Just… hypothetically." The words come spilling out of her mouth, before she really has a chance to give it much thought. She hadn't had a friend to talk to in a long time.

Bethany's jaw drops and she sits in silence for a moment, staring at Anna in disbelief. "You slept with the Ice Bitch?"

"Beth! Don't call her that."

"Sorry," Beth says, holding up a hand. "That was totally a slip… but holy _shit._" She pauses, her eyes lighting up like she just had a genius thought. "How does she look naked? I always imagine she looks really great naked… like _my_ thighs do this really weird thing and-"

"I haven't seen her naked," Anna states flatly. "We didn't have sex."

"Right," Beth says, nodding her head. "So she just showed up unexpectedly to…?"

"Hangout," Anna finishes, "I mean she slept over… and we kinda cuddled… but that's all. We're taking it slow."

"Wow," Bethany breathes out, her eyes wide. "That is so cute… like, so freaking adorable. I think my heart might explode."

Anna looks down as she twists her hands together. "You really think that? Even if you think she's a bitch? You're not gonna give me crap about dating her?"

Beth tilts her head as she furrows her brow. "Hey, everyone deserves to be loved by _someone._ It takes a lot to love an Ice Bitch, but for some reason I feel like you're one of the only people in the world who can do it. She deserves to be happy and so do you."

"Thanks."

"Why are you so tired if all you did was cuddle?"

Anna shifts in her seat, taking in a deep breath. "It's fine if you want to talk about _my _personal life, but that is sort of going into hers, and I don't think it's appropriate to discuss that."

"Is everything okay with her," Bethany asks, her voice genuinely concerned.

"Yeah," Anna nods, "-she's going to be fine."

"Good. You can go out there and kick ass in that meeting today." Bethany stands and offers Anna a hand. "So how long have you two been dating," she asks, helping Anna to her feet. "And why is it that I'm just now finding out about this?"

Anna smiles as she stands, straightening her skirt. "We haven't been dating very long… and honestly I thought it might make you angry."

"Angry? No. Maybe a little jealous. I might have to find a boyfriend just so we can go on a double date. I've never had a conversation with Elsa, and I sort of have this really secret obsession with her."

Anna lets out a laugh at the thought of Elsa and Bethany interacting. "Your obsession isn't that secret and something tells me she wouldn't be too comfortable in that situation. She might even be kind of nervous."

Bethany laughs as she opens the conference room door, allowing Anna to exit first. "Someone that hot can't _possibly_ have a nervous bone in their entire body- and I've seen how she interacts with people. She freaking sweats confidence. I promise I won't be too creepy. I can be normal."

Anna shakes her head. "I don't… actually I'm not really sure how that would work out. I'm sure you can control yourself. I'll run it by her."

"I wonder how Kristoff feels about you dating Elsa. He's like got a mad crush on you."

_Shit, Kristoff. _Anna shakes her head. "He doesn't know about it. He _did_ ask me to go with him to this charity dinner, though… and I haven't given him an answer. I don't know how to let him down easy."

"You can't go to that dinner with him," Bethany states matter-of-factly. "You gotta buckle down and say 'Hey, Kristoff-"

"Hey, Beth! Watcha talking about?" Kristoff bounces toward the women with a grin plastered onto his face. "Heard my name."

"Oh, well I just... was... telling Anna about how much we missed her while she was gone. Her personality is like a drug." She turns to Anna with a smile, playfully pushing her shoulder. "Can't get enough of you." Her smile disappears once she's staring at Anna and she gives the strawberry-blonde a telling look, as she points her head at Kristoff. "Anyway, I have to go. Good luck you two."

Bethany walks away and Anna smiles awkwardly up at Kristoff. "She's uhhh, she's really a character."

"That she is… So, I realized that we got most of what needed to be finished completed last night. We're pretty much ready to go. Are you ready to go?"

Anna looks around, searching for an excuse to not have to be in the same room with both Kristoff and Elsa. "Do you _really_ want me there, I mean I did trip last time."

Kristoff smiles and places a hand on Anna's shoulder. "Of course I want you there. You're incredibly talented at what you do and you deserve to be there… plus you're kind of like my good luck charm."

"Right," Anna smiles. "Well, off we go."

* * *

A/N: a little plot, lot of filler. Just wanted to point out that Elsa was serious about her nightmares/ establish a better relationship between Anna and someone other than Elsa.

thanks for the reviews and such


	13. Kristoff

Anna places her bag on her desk and slips out her cellphone as she returns from her second break of the day. She fiddles around with her phone for a moment, opening and closing apps, before she gathers enough courage for what she really wants to do- text Elsa.

She opens the texting app and starts the message.

**Hey, Els! You got a minute? (:**

She presses send_. Damn. Probably shouldn't have put a smiley. _Anna closes her eyes as she sets her phone down on her desk, prepared to start the waiting game. Much to her surprise, Elsa texts back immediately.

**For you, I have five. Wish I had more. **

**Meet me at 3:55 exactly. I have a 4:00pm meeting. **

Anna smiles excitedly down at her phone as she checks the time. _3:50_. _Crap not much time. _She stands from her desk and grabs her bag, heading toward the elevator.

Once she reaches the metal doors and presses the up button, she realizes that she has never actually been in Elsa's office before. The elevator ride to the top floor is filled with anticipation.

Anna had some misconstrued idea that the meeting she had attended earlier with Kristoff would involve some sort of dramatic flare, but she was, of course, wrong. Once the conference doors opened, everyone put on their best business faces and she was positive that she was the farthest thing from _anyone's _mind.

The meeting went pretty much the same as the last one, minus the creative executives. Kristoff was grilled by some higher ups and performed extremely well under pressure. He was so excited by his second success that he gave Anna another break- and this time he allowed enough room for her to go out and get food.

She instead spent the time getting Elsa a gift.

As she steps off the elevator she is immediately greeted by a man she has never seen before. "Hey, you must be Anna. I'm Daniel. Ms. Snow's office is right this way," he smiles, guiding Anna toward a massive set of glass doors.

Before she has a chance to respond to him, she is pushed through the doors and they're closed behind her. Her heart nearly stops once she's able to fully take in the space around her.

Elsa's office has floor-to-cieling windows overlooking the city on two sides and an opaque wall covered in monitors playing various news channels opposite her massive desk.

She also has four distinct seating areas, each bigger than Kristoff's whole office. The entire color scheme is black, white, and gray- very similar to her apartment.

Elsa motions for Anna to come forward as she reaches over and presses a button on her desk, before looking behind the younger woman's head.

Anna turns just in time to see the glass doors behind her being frosted, shielding the outside world from viewing what was happening inside the office. _That was pretty cool. Holy crap. _

Anna walks to Elsa's desk, catching the end of the older woman's phone conversation. "Deal with it," Elsa whispers cooly to whoever is on the phone. "It'll be at least a week before I can get out there and waiting will only push us back further."

Anna shifts nervously in front of the desk and Elsa lifts her gaze, fixing the younger woman with a soft stare. She continues her conversation. "Stop talking. I have something time-sensitve sitting on my desk and this is keeping me away from it. I guarantee that's not improving my disposition. Fix what needs fixing and report back tomorrow."

Elsa places the phone back in it's cradle with a suppressed violence before turning back to Anna. "Anna-"

Anna holds up a hand, cutting her off as she places her bag on the edge of the desk. "I… wow. You're like actually running the world in here. I probably shouldn't have disturbed you."

"It's okay, Anna," Elsa smiles. "What did you need?"

Anna sticks her hand in her bag, gripping the gift she wanted to give to Elsa, but suddenly feels like it is a little conceited to give the older woman what she'd brought. Elsa frowns. "What's wrong, Anna?"

"Nothing," Anna exhales, "I just… I have something for you, but I realized it's one of those gifts… well, it's not really a gift. Maybe it's not appropriate-"

Elsa thrusts her hand forward. "Give it to me."

Anna shifts again, looking down at her bag. "You can totally just not take it-"

"Stop talking, Anna," Elsa demands. She crooks her fingers. "Give it to me."

Anna pulls out a photograph in one of those novelty frames that is normally used for things relating to graduations. It has a digital clock face with the time 2:30AM stuck on it and it holds an image of Anna making a goofy face while wearing a snowman hat. She hands it to Elsa.

"I just… you had a nightmare last night and I thought if you ever wake up in the middle of the night… that maybe…" Anna trails off and clears her throat. "I thought maybe it would cheer you up," she finishes in a whisper.

Elsa stares down at the framed photograph in complete silence and Anna shifts her weight once again, embarrassed. "Well, uhm like I said, you don't have to keep-"

"I…" Elsa starts, before clearing her throat. "Thank you, Anna."

Anna looks at the time and notices it's 3:59. _Good, I can get out of here. _"Ah, well," she starts, grabbing her bag, "I can just keep it until later or something… I'm sure you don't-"

Elsa looks up from the picture, searching Anna's face for a brief moment. "No, it's mine. You can't have it back." She sets the picture down before standing and swiftly moving around the desk, in front of Anna.

Elsa pauses for a moment once she reaches her, but she then smoothly slides her arms around the younger woman's waist, and pulls her into a firm kiss. She doesn't pull away this time and Anna parts her lips, allowing Elsa's tongue to enter her mouth.

She closes her eyes as a warm sensation spreads through her body and she suddenly aches for this contact. Contact that she didn't know she needed until now.

Anna lifts her hands and uses one to grab on to Elsa's neck, her thumb resting on the older woman's cheek, while her other hand snakes it's way into Elsa's platinum blonde locks.

She then shifts forward, leaning more into the kiss, but a noise goes off behind her and Daniel's voice fills the room. "Ms. Snow your four o'clock is here. Should I tell him you're busy?"

Elsa pulls away from the kiss and snaps her eyes shut. "Shit."

Anna presses a kiss to Elsa's cheek, attempting to calm her. "You can always just cancel it," she jokes, removing her hand from the older woman's hair.

Elsa bites down on her lip, seeming to actually be considering the idea. She then begins to shake her head. "No, I can't do that. I can, however, cancel my business lunch tomorrow. Have lunch with me, Anna?"

"Oh," Anna starts, surprised by Elsa's willingness to cancel meetings for her, "I was just joking. You don't have to do that."

"I _want _to do that, Anna." She lets out a breath as she pulls away from their embrace and runs a hand through her hair. "I just... can't get enough of you."

"Ah," Anna breathes out, a blush creeping up her cheeks. "Well, I will see you tomorrow, then… And tonight!"

"Right! Tonight, okay. I'll stop by your floor and pick you up on my way out, okay?"

Anna nods as she grabs her bag from Elsa's desk. "That sounds good to me."

Elsa walks forward and places another quick kiss to Anna's lips. "I really love the picture. Thank you for that."

"I'm glad that you like it, Els."

Elsa walks Anna to the glass doors and opens them for her as they exit the office. On their way toward the elevators they encounter Daniel standing next to a very tiny man with gray hair, circular glasses, and a thick mustache.

Elsa stops in front of him and introduces Anna. "Anna this is John Weselton. John this is Anna."

John Weselton extends a hand in Anna's direction. "Pleased to meet you."

Anna swallows, extending a nervous hand in his direction. _Where have I heard that name before? _She gives him a polite smile. "It's nice to meet you as well."

Elsa places a hand on her lower back, prompting her to walk toward the elevators. "We'll only be a moment, John."

They walk to the elevators and Elsa presses the down button. Anna taps her foot on the ground trying to figure out where she had heard that name before. _John. John. John… holy shit. The guy Kristoff talked about. Why is Elsa meeting with him?_

Elsa turns to Anna and lifts a brow. "Is there something wrong?"

Anna takes in a deep breath, desperately searching for something else to say. "Are we exclusive," she finally blurts out.

"Excuse me?"

"Me and you," Anna says quickly. "You and me… us. Are we an exclusive thing?"

Elsa nods. "I was hoping so-"

"Good," Anna nods in return. "That's really… great." She gives Elsa a smile as the elevator doors open.

"You don't think I'm into John, do you?" Elsa gives her a warm smile and Anna shakes her head with a nervous laugh.

"Just have to be sure, you know?" The doors close and Anna leans against the back wall, releasing a sigh. _I don't wanna know. I don't wanna know._

When she makes it back to her floor she is stopped by Bethany on her way back to her desk. "Hey Anna-bear, how did the meeting go?"

Anna shakes her head, confused. "It wasn't really a meeting. I just went to-" She stops mid-sentence, realizing what Bethany was referring to. "Oh! That meeting. Yeah, it went fine. Kristoff is great."

"I'm sure he is, Anna… but did you tell him that the charity dinner is a no-go?"

Anna shakes her head once again. "I didn't tell him that… not just yet." Bethany gives her a disapproving stare. "What," Anna whines, "I didn't want to mess up his meeting."

"What's more important, Anna? Your relationship with Elsa, or some guy's hurt feelings?"

"Look," Anna starts, "I know what my priorities are, and as a matter of fact, I'm going to go tell him right now… I mean, me letting him think there is a chance isn't good for anyone."

"Good, I just…" Bethany sighs and runs a hand through her hair. "Normally I'd be all for you playing the field… like you're young and hot- good for you, but this is a little dangerous… so, I'm just looking out for you."

"I know. I know. I just have to buckle down, like you said."

Bethany pulls Anna into a brief hug before pulling away. "I have to get back to work, but you do what you need to do."

Anna gives Bethany a quick smile before turning and walking toward Kristoff's office.

She finds him with his eyes glued to his computer screen, unaware that she is standing in the door.

She clears her throat loudly, before taking a step forward. "Kristoff?" He looks up and gives her a smile. She waves sweetly, taking another step forward. "Hey, just got back. Was just wondering if we had anything else to do?"

Kristoff waves her toward the desk, asking her to take a seat. "There's some stuff we can do, but between us… it can wait a little. You're an excellent assistant, Anna. You know that?"

Anna takes a seat a waves off the compliment. "I'm sure you're just saying that."

Kristoff leans back in his chair and folds his arms across his chest. "Why would I just say that, Anna? You're actually really great."

"I don't know," Anna shrugs, looking away.

Kristoff sighs as he leans forward, placing his hands on his now neat desk. "Look, Anna… I'm really sorry that I asked you to that dinner. I feel like it put this awkward tension between us, and that's totally not what I wanted."

Anna looks back to him and opens her mouth to speak, but he lifts a hand, stopping her. "I want you to know that I'm just going to -from this moment forward- assume you don't want to go. We can forget I ever asked. It was selfish of me to put you in that position in the first place, as your boss."

"Kristoff, it's not-"

"I mean," he continues, "-being asked out by someone sort of in charge of your job is only attractive in like random romance novels, right? In reality it's a little awkward and pretty inappropriate. I'm really sorry about that. I've never been in charge of anyone or anything, so I didn't really understand that until now."

Anna twists her fingers together in her lap as she tries to take in everything Kristoff is saying. "You're a great guy, Kristoff… and I honestly-"

"You don't have to give me that whole spiel," he interrupts. "I'm not asking you for that. I'm a big boy, I can take it. I made a mistake and now I'm dealing with the blowback. I just want us to go back to normal. Maybe that's asking for a lot… but I'm genuinely sorry."

"I accept your apology. We don't have to talk about it anymore," Anna says quietly, hoping Kristoff takes this as the cue to not continue.

Kristoff smiles and taps on his desk excitedly. "Cool. You're fantastic. We can spend the next hour finishing up this account and then you're free to go. Great work today, by the way. We make a pretty great team."

Anna gives him a thankful smile and they get to work finishing the account.

— — —

An hour later Anna saunters out of Kristoff's office fighting the urge to collapse at her desk and take a nap on the spot. She really needs to get some sleep, but she doesn't know if she'll have an opportunity between now, and Elsa's business dinner.

Anna collapses in her desk chair, resting her head on the cool metal. _Just get through the dinner and then home sweet home. _She feels a hand on her shoulder, and looks up expecting Bethany, but instead finds Elsa.

"Is everything okay, Anna," she asks, worried. "You don't seem well."

Anna nods her head with a yawn. "Sorry, Els. Just a little tired, but I'm fine. We should get out of here. I think it's just the work atmosphere that has me sleepy."

"So you don't like being here now?" Elsa lifts a brow, amused. "I remember you thanking me for the great opportunity."

"Well," Anna says, standing, "That was a long time ago."

Anna stands, pulling on her jacket and throwing her bag over her shoulder. As they begin to walk toward the elevator Elsa links their fingers together and the younger woman blushes at the gesture.

"I really like holding your hand," Anna smiles, slightly pressing her face to Elsa's shoulder.

Elsa lets out a small laugh as she presses the down button on the elevator. The doors open immediately and they step in. "I really like holding yours, too." Her phone beeps and she grabs it from her pocket. "Crap, sorry about this," she says, looking down at the screen.

The elevator doors begin to close, but an arm shoots in and stops them at the last minute. "Hold that… for me," comes a voice.

Anna knows who it is before she has a chance to see his face. She tries to surreptitiously slip her hand from Elsa's but the older woman tightens her grip, her eyes still fixed on her phone.

Kristoff steps in the elevator and looks down at Anna and Elsa's entwined fingers, before looking back up at Anna. "Hey…," he whispers, his eyes dropping back to their hands and then back up to Anna's face.

Elsa looks up from her phone and gives him a smile. "Hi, Mr. Bjorgman. You did a fine job today. You're a very promising employee. Bright future ahead of you." She looks back down at her phone.

"Thanks," he breathes out, his eyes never leaving Anna's. After another moment he finally looks away and smiles at Elsa. "It's great to hear that from you, Ms. Snow. I've been putting in a lot of work and it's good to see it paying off."

"It's always nice to hear that my employees are working hard," Elsa chirps, her eyes not leaving her phone.

"Yeah," Kristoff starts, "-but I honestly couldn't have done this without Anna."

Elsa gives the freckled woman's hand a squeeze as she responds. "She's pretty great."

Kristoff looks back to Anna, and she looks down, unable to look him in the eyes anymore. "Yeah… she really is," he whispers.

* * *

A/N: Bethany is an OC


	14. Spontaneous

"What kind of business are we talking about," Anna asks nervously, walking beside Elsa toward their reserved table.

"We most likely won't be talking about business at all, Anna. This is more like a wooing process."

"Oh," Anna says, slightly stumbling over her feet as she tries to keep up with Elsa's quick, smooth strides. "So, what's his name? Do I need to know anything? Should I just stay quiet… I mean if we're wooing him, then I probably should-"

"We're not," Elsa says cooly, calmly. "You don't have to worry about anything." She stops and turns to Anna, halting her as she lifts a hand to move a strand of hair behind the younger woman's ear. "Just relax and enjoy the dinner."

Anna releases a relieved breath as she closes her eyes, leaning her face into Elsa's hand. She then reopens her eyes and gives Elsa a weak smile. "How much is the food here? I hate to ask, but-"

"It's already paid for. I told you," Elsa says with a warm smile, "-just relax. It's okay."

Elsa drops her hand and places a soft kiss to Anna's forehead before turning and continuing toward their table. Anna follows.

When they make it to where they are supposed to be seated, the table is empty and there are only two chairs. Anna turns to Elsa, confused. "Should we ask for another seat?"

"No," Elsa says softly. "This will be enough. Looks like it's just me and you."

_What? She didn't. _Anna squints her eyes as a smile spreads across her face. "Els, if you wanted to ask me out, you could have. You didn't have to make something up."

Elsa takes her seat as she lets out a small laugh. "I didn't make up the meeting. It got rescheduled this morning, but I still wanted to do dinner with you, so here we are. Sit, Anna."

Anna takes her seat, unable to stop herself from smiling. "Well, you didn't have to take me somewhere fancy, you could have just taken me to IHOP or something."

Elsa runs a hand through her hair, shaking her head. "I meant it when I said I can't get enough of you, Anna," she says, smiling. "The owner of this restaurant is a good friend of mine, and I came here to support him. Plus, I want to woo you, and I trust his cooking."

"Well...," Anna starts, "I'm excited to meet your friend. What's his name?"

Right on cue, a handsome brown-haired man with large brown eyes comes bouncing over. "Elsa! It's been forever since I've seen you."

Elsa stands from the table and the man pulls her into a hug. A smile spreads across the older woman's face as she returns it. "Hey, Olaf. I hope everything has been going well. I want you to meet someone."

Elsa turns to face Anna. "This is Anna, my uhhh-" she clears her throat, sticking her hands in her pockets. "She's my girlfriend. Anna, this is my good friend, Olaf."

_Girlfriend!? Since when? _Anna blinks rapidly as she tries to take in what Elsa just said. Her thoughts are interrupted by Olaf's voice. "Well stand on up, Anna, and bring it in. I'm a hugger- you get used to it."

Anna stands and is grabbed into a big, warm hug- her nosed pressed into the soft fabric of the taller man's shirt. "It's nice to meet you Olaf," she says as she returns the gesture.

Anna then pulls away, and the two women retake their seat. Olaf rubs his hands together, excitedly. "I hope you don't mind but I want to skip the whole menu process, I have something really special that I want to make for you two."

Elsa nods. "Sounds good to us."

Olaf smiles and quickly walks away toward the kitchen. Anna turns to face Elsa. "So, I'm your girlfriend now?"

Elsa's eyes widen and she runs a hand through her platinum blonde bangs. "I didn't… I'm sorry, it just sort of came out. I just… thought when you asked if we were exclusive, that you were trying to go for something more official. I hope I didn't cross any lines."

Anna smiles as she reaches forward, placing her hand over Elsa's. "I like it, don't worry. It was just sort of… nice to hear you say that. You're full of surprises, Elsa Snow."

"As are you. What's with the odd sexual tension between you and Mr. Bjorgman?"

Anna's smile leaves her face and she pulls her hand back as she rolls her eyes. "You're so bad at dates. Like, I can't even begin to comprehend you. There's no sexual tension between him and me, or at least none that I'm a part of."

Elsa nods. "So, he likes you? Do you wish to be transferred to a diff-"

"No, Elsa," Anna interrupts. "And don't worry. I can handle myself around him, and he can handle himself around me. You occupy like ninety-eight percent of my brain right now, and the other two percent makes sure I don't stop breathing when I'm asleep."

Elsa blushes as she scratches at the white table cloth. "I get that," she says softly. "Sometimes I have to remind myself to breathe when you're around."

"That was better," Anna smiles, "See, you're getting the hang of things."

Elsa looks up to Anna, her face serious. "I really liked our kiss today… in my office. I uhhh, was just wondering how you felt about it. I know we're taking this slow, so I don't want to do too much too fast."

Anna folds her hands together on top of the table, thinking for a moment. "Well, I really liked our kiss. I… it seems like you want us to move faster than we are-"

"No," Elsa exclaims, holding up a hand. "I mean, that's not what I meant entirely. I… well part of me wants to move faster, but I know that what we're doing is probably smarter. We need time to just… figure each other out. Every relationship has its own thing-"

"Have you been in a lot of them?"

"Excuse me?"

"Relationships. How many relationships have you been in," Anna asks, her fears of asking Elsa personal questions slowly fading to the background. She really wants to know more about the older woman, and why she seems to be hiding so much.

"Oh." Elsa pauses and swallows. "I thought that was one of your no-no topics."

"Yeah it's a no-no on the _first _date, but we've established that we're in a relationship now, and-"

"You want to exchange bills of health?"

Anna shrugs and draws in a breath. "Not exactly. Right now I'm just asking about your past relationships."

"Right," Elsa whispers, looking down at her hands. "Well, that part of my life is a little… lacking, or… well, nonexistent would be a better word. Or rather, I have never had a traditional relationship."

"What does that mean?"

Elsa runs a hand through her bangs before looking up to Anna. "I mean I've had agreements with women in the past where we sort of shared a well… strictly sexual relationship, but-"

"Like a prostitute," Anna asks, her eyes wide.

"No! What? Anna. I don't pay for sex. I'm just saying it was clear between us that dates, and sleeping over, and things like that weren't going to be a part of our relationship."

"I don't understand," Anna says, shaking her head. "Is that a thing? Do people do that?"

Elsa twists her fingers together and takes in a deep breath. "It's just… _easier_ for me that way. When I don't have to let people in… When I don't have to worry about someone asking about my parents, and... trying to figure out how to deal with a question like that."

Anna furrows her brow. "You asked me about my childhood first, I was just reciprocating."

Elsa nods, her eyes apologetic. "I know. I know that. This -us- isn't easy for me. I don't expect it to be, because I've never really done this before, but you're worth a shot. I'm really trying… is what I want to say," she finishes, quietly.

"If you don't like letting people in, then why do you seek… _companionship _in the first place," Anna asks, genuinely curious. Until now she had thought Elsa spent her adult life completely alone.

Elsa removes her hands from the table, shoving them into her lap as she looks down. "I just get lonely sometimes, Anna. And I have this unquenchable longing to…" She trails off.

"Longing to what?"

"It doesn't matter," Elsa sighs. "Things are different with you." She looks up to Anna, her eyes sad. "I don't want to mess this up."

"You're not going to mess this up by being open with me," Anna states firmly. "But…" She sighs, her eyes softening, "-maybe we should steer clear of really heavy topics tonight. I'm tired… and I like seeing you smiling, not fidgety and uncomfortable."

"Thanks," Elsa whispers. "You being so understanding is really helping... a lot."

"I know how much me being patient means to you, Elsa. I hate prying, but it eats at me when you do things like have really scary nightmares and I don't know what to say to-"

"You did just fine last night," Elsa interrupts. "You were perfect... I couldn't have asked for more."

"Okay, fine," Anna acquiesces. "Can you just promise me one thing?"

"Sure," Elsa nods. "What is it?"

"Don't try to run away when things get a little rough. Have some faith in me. I'm here for you."

— — —

Elsa drops her jacket to the floor as her and Anna enter the master bedroom of her apartment. The food at the restaurant had been fantastic, but the day in general had been exhausting.

Elsa turns to Anna, letting out a breath. "I'm going to take a shower. I need to wash today off of me."

"Okay," Anna starts, pausing to release a yawn. "Do you mind if I just pass out? I really need to get some sleep."

Elsa walks to the younger girl and presses a sleepy kiss to her lips, the gesture becoming a common endearment in their relationship. "Yeah, you deserve some rest. I'll join you after my shower, okay?"

"Sounds good to me."

Elsa turns toward the bathroom and Anna makes her way to the bed, collapsing on the older woman's massive plush mattress. It feels like she's being whisked away on a fluffy cloud.

She hears Elsa turn on the shower just as her head hits the pillow- and then suddenly she's not very tired anymore. _Why does this always happen to me?_

Anna twists in the bed, attempting to get comfortable, before flipping over on her back. She lets out a sigh as she runs her hand over her face. She then looks toward the bathroom door, an unexpected idea popping into her head. _Might as well give it a shot._

Anna leaves the bed and walks toward the door, opening it just as Elsa is about to lift her shirt.

Elsa looks up, stopping what she's doing. "Hey… did you have to use the bathroom or something?" She pauses, taking in Anna's presence. "Thought you were going to head to sleep," she adds, warily.

"I was," Anna says, leaning her shoulder against the doorway, "-but I had a different idea when I laid down."

"Oh…," Elsa mutters, confused. "Different, how?"

Anna walks toward the shower and turns off the water. She then heads toward Elsa's black stone, deep egg-shaped designer bathtub and turns on the faucet.

"I just thought a bath would be _so_ nice before bed… Just soak away all the stress from the day, you know?" She lifts a brow in Elsa's direction.

Elsa stands silent, confused. She then looks around, running a hand through her bangs. "I'm confused. I don't know what's happening."

Anna takes a step toward Elsa and moves her hands to the buttons on her shirt. She's not really sure _what_ she's doing, but it feels like the right thing to do. "I know we agreed to move this relationship slow…," she starts, taking another step forward.

Elsa's eyes are focused on Anna, but she remains silent.

Anna undoes the top button of her shirt as she continues to speak. "-and while I agree that that is a wise choice-" She undoes another button as she gets closer to the platinum blonde. "-I am making the executive decision to get in this bathtub with you… and I want you to just agree to do it, without protesting."

Elsa takes in a sharp breath as Anna stops inches from her face. "I wouldn't mind that," she whispers, "-but where does this put us?"

Anna finishes unbuttoning her shirt before slowly sliding it off her shoulders, revealing her blue and white polkadotted bra. "I'm not sure, but I just… shit, Elsa I don't want to keep overanalyzing this. We know how we feel about each other, so lets just go with it."

Elsa stares down at Anna's still bruised body, her eyes exploring the multi-colored flesh.

Anna looks down and clears her throat. "It's okay. They don't hurt too much anymore, they just look a little bad. I'm fine."

Elsa takes in a deep breath and releases it. "Are you sure this is the right thing to do, because I don't mind- but I'm not good at... I want us to work. I don't want to move too fast if it means we won't work. So, are you sure-"

Anna reaches forward and grabs the hem of Elsa's sweater, lifting it over her head. "I don't know, and I don't want to think about it. I just want to think about cuddling with my girlfriend in some deliciously hot water, because I know it will make her happy- and her being happy makes me happy… and that's all that matters."

"Okay," Elsa replies.

"Okay." Anna lets out a breath as she moves her hands to the top of the collared shirt Elsa was wearing beneath her sweater, starting to undo the buttons. "I just want to hold you... and I want you to know that I'm there for you, and that you shouldn't feel pressured to open up to me. Take your time."

Elsa's breathing picks up as she stares down at Anna's slowly descending fingers. "I feel like I'm dreaming."

Anna finishes unbuttoning Elsa's shirt as she lets out a small laugh. She removes the garment and wraps her arms around the older woman's waist. "And why is that?"

Elsa lifts her hand to Anna's cheek, running her thumb across her soft skin. "You have like forty-nine freckles, on average."

"Come again," Anna asks lifting a brow, amused.

"The first time I slept in the bed with you… I was so nervous because… I just really liked you. So, I didn't sleep. I spent the entire night trying to count how many freckles you have. But some of them are really light, and some are in clusters, so I kept getting different numbers. In the end I just averaged them all together-"

"And I have forty-nine freckles- on average?"

"Yeah," Elsa smiles, shyly. "You looked so peaceful while you were sleeping. I wanted to just reach out and touch you, but I knew I couldn't, and… well, I never thought we'd be standing here like this."

"You're the cutest," Anna whispers, "I'm gonna have to count your freckles now."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah," Anna laughs. "I'll even give you a standard deviation." She presses a quick kiss to the older woman's lips before pulling out of the hug.

Anna grabs an expensive looking bottle of bath oil and pours it into the water, watching it foam as the bath fills and the room starts to smell of lavender. She then turns off the water and turns to Elsa.

"Okay, Els- I'm gonna need you out of those clothes and in this water in like the next thirty seconds."

Elsa starts to unbutton her pants, a smile spreading across her face as she walks toward Anna. "What are we doing, Anna?" She slides her pants down her legs, kicking them off her feet.

"We're being spontaneous," Anna muses, sliding her skirt down.

Elsa undoes her bra and drops it to the floor. Anna pauses, taking in the newly exposed flesh- the uncharted territory. "Wow," she whispers. "Beth was right, you do look great naked."

"What," Elsa laughs, looking down at her uncovered body. "She's never seen me naked, trust me. And I don't pay you to talk about my naked body at work," she scolds.

"You're right," Anna smiles, nodding her head. She reaches out towards Elsa's skin. "I'm totally not gonna tell her about your cute little freckles right-"

Elsa slaps Anna's hand away with a laugh. "Stop it. I'm getting in the water." Elsa removes her underwear and quickly slides into the water, letting out a small moan as she settles down.

Anna removes the rest of her clothes and slides in behind the older woman. The water is enticingly hot, and exactly what she needed after a long day. She slips her arms around Elsa's waist, pulling the platinum blonde into her chest.

Anna then sticks her nose in Elsa's hair, inhaling deeply. "You smell so nice, Els."

Elsa lets out a small moan as she shifts her body, leaning more into the younger woman. "This is probably the best idea you've ever had."

"Yeah, this is definitely up there."

Anna lifts her hands from the water and grabs the body wash from the shelf next to the tub, squirting some into her palm. She then rubs her hands together until they're nice and foamy before closing them around Elsa's neck, massaging the soap onto the older woman's neck and shoulders.

Elsa lets out an appreciative groan as she closes her eyes, trailing her nails along Anna's leg underneath the water. "Definitely a great idea."

* * *

A/N: this day randomly went on for like 84 chapters, my bad


	15. The Anna Side

"I'm still shocked that you're dating Elsa Snow," Bethany says, leaning forward to grab a handful of pretzels from the bowl on the coffee table.

"I know, it seems kind of weird," Anna calls from the kitchen. "Maybe this has all been some elaborate dream and I'll wake up tomorrow and realize that it actually was a little too good to be true."

Bethany looks at Anna and laughs. "Naturally, you can't just be an amazing woman. We've established that you being a totally awesome person is out of the question, right?"

"Correct. That's not an option. Try again."

Bethany laughs again, nodding her head. "Well, in that case I'll have to go with option number three and say that she's preparing you to be sold on the black market. One of her illegal side activities- the real source of her income."

Anna grabs the two cups of hot chocolate from the microwave before making her way toward the couch that Bethany is sitting on. "What's next on the list," she asks, taking a seat and handing Bethany a cup.

"I was thinking we could watch Planet Terror and totally ogle that chick with a gun for a leg."

Anna takes a sip of her hot chocolate and shakes her head. "No… no, that's definitely not an option. I don't need anymore reason than I already have to have nightmares. We should stick with the romantic comedies."

Bethany twirls her finger in her cup, but doesn't drink any of the liquid. "What reason do you have for nightmares? You afraid of the boogeyman," she asks laughing.

"Something like that," Anna shrugs. "We all have our fears."

"Sure," Bethany says, standing from the couch and placing her cup on the table. "I'll just get the next movie ready. One sappy rom-com coming up. How are things between you and Kristoff?"

"I don't know," Anna shrugs, "-he's a little different, you know?"

"What did you expect? I mean, Elsa _is _his age, and she has his dream job, his dream life, and _now_ his dream girl. He can only roll with so many punches."

Anna takes a slow sip of her hot chocolate. This weekend was her way of relaxing and finally starting her new life, sans Hans. It was also a way for her to avoid getting even more suffocatingly close to Elsa.

They really needed a little break from each other- for the mental sake of both of them. _Breathing room. _That's what they'd called it. It was really just a little space for both of them to think about whether or not jumping head first into this relationship was the right thing to do.

Anna has no doubt in her mind. Elsa is what she wants.

"I just don't know what I'm supposed to do," Anna starts, "I feel like it would be rude if I apologized, somehow. I don't know."

Bethany fiddles around on the laptop that's connected to her TV, via the HDMI port. "That would be weird. Don't do that."

Anna shrugs and places her cup on the table, trading it for a handful of Skittles. "I just feel like…" She pauses, throwing a few skittles into her mouth. "I feel like it's a question of ethics, you know? I feel like I did something wrong."

Bethany turns from her task, fixing Anna with a hard stare. "I majored in journalism in college, and I had to take this ethics course-"

"You majored in journalism?"

"That's a different story," Bethany laughs, shaking her head, "-Anyway, the final for this class was one question. It was about you interviewing a family about their baby dying on Christmas Eve. You get your info, and type up the story- only your editor rejects it."

Anna leans forward and places her elbows on her knees. "This is getting juicy. It's like a campfire story."

"Let me finish you dork," Bethany says, holding up a hand as she laughs some more. "The editor says you forgot the color of the toy the baby choked on. Your options are to either call the parents and ask, or lose your job. I chose to call the paramedics. See if they catalogued the toy or something. I can't call the parents on Midnight of Christmas day to ask what color toy their dead baby choked on."

"What did you get in the class?"

"I got a D," Bethany states, matter-of-factly as she turns back around. "The moral of the story is that in life you just have to tell people what they want to hear. It's the only way to get by."

Anna nods as she picks up her cup, leaning back. "So I just need to tell Kristoff what he wants to hear, and our relationship will improve? What do I have to do? Stroke his ego?"

"I'm sure he wants you to stroke something else."

Anna spits her hot chocolate back into the cup, nearly choking. "Bethany!"

"I'm just saying, Anna," Bethany starts, turning around with a smile, "-you just gotta let this one be. Give it some time and it will get better. There isn't much you can do. He just has to get over it."

Bethany starts _The Vow_ before standing and returning back to her seat next to Anna on the couch. She then leans forward, reaching for her cup. "So, back to your relationship with Elsa. I know I make a lot of jokes, but actually- how are things?"

"Things are fine," Anna says softly, looking down into her cup. "We're trying to feel our way through this, you know? She has her issues."

"You have your issues."

Anna looks up from her hot chocolate to Bethany, confused. "What does that mean?"

Bethany shrugs before taking a sip from her cup. She then brings the cup down and takes in a deep breath. "It means you showed up late to work with bruises and then you randomly missed an entire week with no _real _reason behind it. Maybe I didn't learn ethics from that class, but I learned to pay attention to detail."

"Beth-"

Bethany holds up a hand, stopping Anna. "Look, if you don't want to talk about it, it's none of my business. I'm just saying that you were obviously going through something, and you shouldn't put your own problems and feelings aside to make room for Elsa's."

"It's hard not to," Anna starts, taking a long pause. She twirls her cup around in her hands before she starts again. "Not just for Elsa, or because of Elsa, though. It's hard to face it myself. It's easier to push it aside… or wrap it up into some cute little "lesson learned" analogy and put a nice ribbon on it. The truth, the _real _truth, is ugly."

"Yeah-"

"I believed him," Anna interrupts. "The last time he told me how worthless I was, I believed him. So I hit him… and then he hit me." An unacknowledged tear falls down Anna cheek and she takes in a deep breath. It's almost as if her body is trained to cry on cue at the mention of her abuse, but her mind refuses to register it.

Bethany places her cup on the table and moves toward Anna, placing a hand on her knee, but remains silent.

Anna wipes the tear away as she continues. "He kept hitting me. Him calling me worthless floated through my head with each blow, and he was just pounding it in. By some miracle I survived... and I called Elsa."

Anna looks to Bethany, sniffing. A faint smile glimmering in her watery eyes. "She makes me happy. I keep telling Elsa I'm okay, because I feel like the more time I spend with her, the more that statement will be true. I feel like eventually I'll say it, and I'll really, really mean it."

Bethany leans her head against Anna's shoulder, softly stroking the strawberry-blonde's knee with her thumb. "You still feel it, sometimes, though, don't you? You still feel like it's true."

Anna nods. "I want to tell Elsa. I really do, but I don't want to overwhelm her. I don't want her to leave."

Bethany pulls her head up, looking Anna in the eyes. "Hey, you said yourself that she has her issues. She's probably wondering how someone as great as you could be that into someone like her. You two just need to sit down and acknowledge that yeah, it's gonna be a bumpy road- but you wouldn't want to travel it with anyone else."

Anna wipes the last of her tears away before pulling Bethany into a hug. "You should write a relationship advice column. I'd totally read it."

"It's good to know I'd have a fan," Bethany smiles.

Anna pulls out of the hug, making sure not to spill her hot chocolate. "Sorry for ruining movie night. There's still time to salvage the remains, I hope. Rachel McAdams is just now waking up from her coma."

Bethany turns toward the TV, shaking her head. "She looks so good with darker hair. I don't know why she alway dyes it blonde in movies. You probably like it, though," she says, looking back to Anna. "You have a thing for blondes."

Anna laughs softly, shaking her head. "What makes you think that?"

"Well," Bethany starts, shifting into a different position, "-you're in my non alcove studio, sitting on my couch -and I'm totally cute and single and ready to mingle- and you haven't tried to take advantage of me once. You're either a real gentleman, or it's my hair color."

"Definitely the hair color," Anna says with a wink.

Bethany gives Anna a smile, lifting a hand to her shoulder. "You're gonna be alright, kid. You're a tough cookie."

"Thanks, Dad," Anna jokes, playfully pushing Bethany.

"I mean it, Anna."

Anna looks down into her cup, still smiling. "I know. Thanks for being a great friend, Beth," she adds, looking up to Bethany. "It's nice to have someone like you in a time like this."

— — —

Anna lazed around with Bethany straight through Friday night, breaking only for a late night Taco Bell run, before returning to their movies.

Saturday afternoon found them particularly motivated, and they managed to saunter down to downtown Arendelle for a few hours. They each bought new tank tops and shared an oversized mug of eggnog from a sidewalk cafe.

They spent the night switching between Bridesmaids on TNT and Saturday Night Live. It was one of the most thoroughly relaxing days that Anna had had in a while.

By the time Anna strolled back into her apartment Sunday afternoon, she was completely tired form staying up entirely too late. She collapsed on her bed for a much needed nap, merely moments after she locked the front door.

She could have slept right into the next day if her ringing phone didn't wake her up.

Anna lifts her head, squinting her eyes to get a better focus on the name plastered across the bright screen. It's Elsa. She picks up the phone. "Hey, Els. How was your weekend without me?"

"I miss you," comes Elsa's smooth voice. "I hope we don't have to spend too many of these apart."

"Me either," Anna yawns. "I missed you too, but I also had a pretty good time with Beth. It was relaxing… and good to see that there is someone else who can manage to bring a smile to my face."

"Should I be concerned about Kristoff _and _Beth," Elsa prods.

Anna smiles, relaxing back into her pillow. "You don't have to worry about anyone, babe… What did you do this weekend?"

"I took care of some business, solved some problems."

Anna lets out a slightly frustrated moan as she closes her eyes. "We were supposed to relax and clear our heads."

"Fixing problems and taking care of business is how I relax, Anna," Elsa states, matter-of-factly.

"Well, I think I have a few other, better, ways that you can relax."

Elsa takes in a deep breath before releasing a soft laugh. "Tell me some of these ways."

"Well," Anna starts, grunting as she turns over on her back. "-one way involves you making me breakfast while wearing nothing but a pair of boots and a Cartier diamond necklace."

Elsa laughs for a moment before speaking. "How is that relaxing for me?"

"I don't know, but this mental image is working wonders on my part."

"Okay," Elsa says, before pausing briefly. "How about we switch it around and it's you making _me _breakfast, naked. That seems a little more relaxing."

Anna takes in a breath, considering the thought. "Well I don't own a diamond necklace."

"That's okay. You can just wear a candy one. We can have more fun with that anyway."

Anna turns over on her side, releasing a sigh. "Did you have any nightmares this weekend?" The question comes out of her mouth before she has a chance to think it, floating out as gently and easily as letting out a breath.

"I didn't," Elsa starts, "-but I still have your picture by my bed, just in case."

"I had one," Anna whispers. "I wanted to call you, but I didn't want to wake you in the middle of the night."

"You can call me at any time of the day, and I'll drop everything for you, Anna. I mean that," Elsa states, her voiced laced with sincerity.

The answer is enough to qualm any rising fear that Anna has about Elsa, for tonight at least. "Okay," she responds, smiling to herself, "-I can wear a candy necklace, but it has to be the one with the little pieces of candy all around it, and the Sweetart locket on the front. You know the one? It has that white elastic string to hold it all together."

"I know what you're talking about."

"Good. So the candy has to be alternating blue and white in groups of maybe two or three and the locket has to be white, with Elsa written on it in blue. I just want you to have a clear mental picture."

"Don't worry, I'm taking notes," Elsa says with a small laugh. "Mental notes."

"Alright," Anna says, her voice serious. "Now for the boots, I'll go with the tall doc martens -the kind that have the ribbons as the laces- in black, because lets be honest if I'm wearing heels I'll just trip all over the place."

"Mmm, okay," Elsa agrees. "You should have your hair like the first time I saw you, up with the braid in the front."

"You remember that?"

"Of course."

"Wow," Anna breathes, letting out a small moan as she switches to her other side. "So, that's all I'm wearing. What should I be cooking? Like maybe a steak omelet with spinach and like some strawberries on the side… or like, wait am I boring you?"

"Not at all," Elsa laughs. "I could listen to you talk all day."

"You're gonna regret saying that, but I'll continue. So, you would probably be in your office on your cell phone, taking over the world. I'd come in in my glorious nudity, holding a tray of freshly cooked and perfectly arranged food on four-hundred dollar plates. Now here's the tricky part- you have to choose which is going to be more relaxing, me or your business."

"You've made your case, and after careful consideration the judges have come to an eight-to-one verdict in your favor."

Anna lets out a sleepy laugh as she starts to drift back to sleep. "What was the dissenting opinion?"

Elsa takes in a deep breath and releases it. "There's still a small part of me that's more comfortable with sticking with what I know, but it's slowly being persuaded to the other side."

"The dark side," Anna muses, losing the battle against sleep.

"No," Elsa says, softly, "-the Anna side."


	16. Order Out of Chaos

"We've been spending so many nights together, that I'm starting to forget what it's like to sleep alone."

Anna lifts her head to watch the platinum blonde walk toward the bed in her blue t-shirt and her silk pajama pants. "It's good to see that I can make you forget a feeling that you knew for twenty-six years," she smiles.

Elsa climbs in and presses a quick kiss to Anna's cheek, before slipping under the covers. "You can make me forget what a lot of things feel like. That's why I love your company so much. Don't tell me you miss sleeping alone?"

"I don't," Anna says, shaking her head. "Waking up to your face is sort of the highlight of my day now."

Elsa lies back and Anna turns, resting her head beneath the older woman's chin as Elsa brings an arm around her. "It's nice to hear that, Anna." Elsa sighs and closes her eyes. "Work has been pretty stressful, so it's great having you around."

"What's going on with work?"

Elsa takes in a breath and releases it. "Some things are just going to shit, you know? I really don't like when things are disorderly. There's a company that I've been negotiating with and they pretty much want me to get down on my knees, and I'm not going to do that… It's a lot of really boring things."

Anna lifts her head, and places a kiss on Elsa's chin. "Well, you can feel free to rant to me about all of the frustratingly boring things in your life."

"Do you remember the guy I introduced you to? John Weselton."

Anna nods. "Yes."

"When I was first starting out he tried to double cross me, and really take advantage of me being new to the game. I figured it out and put a stop to it, but he had PR make it look like it was me who screwed him over. I really didn't care because at that point I was pretty much sitting on top of the world."

Anna runs her hand over Elsa's stomach as she takes in a breath. "Then why were you meeting with him?"

Elsa clears her throat, shifting her weight under the younger woman. "He is now one of my biggest competitors. He's pretty much in dire straits and he already has a bidder so he's trying to drive up his prices. He took one of my biggest clients from under me, putting him in a great position to sell. He wants me to buy his company -and while it would be pretty great for me- he wants me to pretty much grovel at his feet to do it."

"So, just do it," Anna whispers. "Why does it matter? In the end you'll come out on top, and he won't."

"It's just the principle of it, Anna-"

"Don't be all high and mighty about it, Els."

Elsa runs her free hand through her hair, taking in an angry breath. "I don't know, Anna. I have a lot to think about."

— — —

"No! Don't… Conceal. No… Please."

Elsa's cries startle Anna, and the the younger woman springs from her sleep like a jackknife- her first thought to get away from the thrashing platinum blonde lying next her.

Anna slides away from Elsa, afraid that the older woman might unknowingly strike out at her again. She then reaches for the bedside lamp, throwing the covers aside to get closer.

Anna clicks the button on the lamp as she climbs from the bed, and the room lights up in a sudden flare of illumination.

She sees Elsa clutching at the sheets, knocking a pillow from the bed as she makes pained noises, writhing in agony.

It was only the second night terror of Elsa's that Anna had experienced, but this one seemed significantly more violent than the first.

She walks back toward the bed, climbing on and pinning Elsa's shoulders down to prevent the older woman from potentially hurting herself.

"Elsa," she yells, her voice loud and firm- ensuring she wakes the platinum blonde up on the first try, and avoids another fiasco.

Elsa's eyes fly open and she jerks upright, her eyes darting frantically. "What?" she gasps, her chest heaving, "What is it?"

Her eyes desperately search Anna's for a response. "Did I hurt you again? Shit." Elsa clumsily fumbles out of the bed and heads toward the bathroom.

Anna follows her.

"No," Anna starts, catching the older woman by the sink. "You didn't hurt me. It was just a little scary seeing you like that."

Anna wraps one arm around Elsa waist, and places the other one on her cheek, hoping that holding her will help- but deep down knowing that it might not be enough this time.

Elsa swallows, her skin ghostly pale and her eyes hollow, missing the glimmer that they normally have. "I'm so sorry… I-" She leans down and kisses Anna, unexpectedly. Her lips are soft, but they aren't warm.

She has little tiny beads of sweat pooling around her hairline and her breathing is ragged, but not from the kiss. It's from something else that traveled over with her from the nightmare.

Her hands dig into the fabric of Anna's shirt, tightly fisting the material as she twists it around her knuckles and pulls the younger woman in closer. But it's not aggressive or possessive, it's needy.

Anna isn't sure what to do, so she just pushes deeper into the kiss- hoping that the longer their lips are pressed together, the more the demon still lingering around from the dream will fade.

After a few seconds Elsa's lips feel warmer and her grip starts to loosen. She eventually lets her hands drop down, one to Anna's waist, and the other resting on the shorter woman's arm.

She then breaks from the kiss and leans her cold, damp forehead against Anna's- and she cries. It's not a silent cry, or a pretty cry. It's ugly and it's loud, and it scares Anna to the point where she wants to separate herself from the space because she's never been this uncertain about what to do in a situation.

Elsa's body starts to shake with the sobs and Anna tightens her grip because she's sure that if she lets go, the older woman will just crumple to the floor, and the very least she can do is hold her up while she's crying.

The very least.

This is the Elsa that Anna wasn't supposed to see. This is the person that Elsa wanted to hide away. The one that sneaks out in the middle of the night when there is normally no one else around.

Elsa stops crying.

Her sobs don't dwindle down or fade off, they stop abruptly. She then pulls her head back and looks down at Anna, searching the younger woman's eyes. She looks lost.

She opens her mouth, but she doesn't speak. She just breathes. Her breath is hot, but her body is cold.

There are little strands of her platinum blonde hair stuck to her sweat covered forehead and Anna wants to reach up and push them away, but she's afraid of what Elsa might do. She decides to remain still, and not say anything.

Elsa closes her mouth and looks away. She then looks back to Anna, something burning in her eyes. "You need to go."

Anna swallows, attempting to gauge the situation. She figures it would be easier if she just left, but she decides to stand her ground anyway. "I'm not leaving you, Elsa. Not like this."

"I'm not telling you to leave me, Anna," Elsa whispers, slightly shaking her head. "I'll see you tomorrow… or well, later today. I just _need_ to do something and I don't-"

"If you're gonna do it, Elsa, then I'm gonna see it, because I'm not going anywhere."

Elsa lets out a resigned breath and pulls away from Anna. She leaves the bathroom and disappears somewhere in her vast closet.

When she returns she's clutching a brown paper bag, sealed with duct tape, that looks like it's concealing some sort of box. "I need you to leave the bathroom," she says, quietly.

Anna doesn't move.

"I need to be alone in here," Elsa pleads, her eyes begging Anna to step away. "I need to do this, Anna. You don't understand. Just get out of here."

Anna still doesn't move.

Elsa walks past her, into the space and places the brown paper bag, sealed with duct tape, on the sink. She then calmly walks toward Anna, bending down as she wraps an arm around the younger woman's waist, scooping her over her shoulder.

"I need to be alone, Anna."

Anna grabs onto the bottom of Elsa's shirt, holding on as the older woman walks her toward the bed. "Elsa we can just talk about this, just talk to me. What are you doing?"

Elsa puts Anna on the bed, slipping out of her shirt in the process, because Anna refuses to let go. She then quickly backs away, slamming the door of the bathroom just before Anna reaches it.

Anna sinks to the floor, trying to peer under the door, into the space, but the light turns off. "I just need a moment," Elsa calls.

A tear falls down Anna's cheek as she slaps her hand against the door. "Open the door, Elsa. Open the door and talk to me. Just talk to me."

Elsa doesn't respond.

Anna leans her head against the door as more tears fall. "Elsa, please. I know you're there. Just talk to me."

She lifts her hand to knock again, but the door opens and Elsa emerges, holding a white box. She looks down to Anna. "We need to move to a different room."

Anna stands and looks down in the box. It's filled with little, tiny, plastic shapes. They're blue and white and gray, and there are tiny shingles and shutters and bargeboards. There are tiny steps and columns and window frames.

Elsa walks toward her side table and opens a drawer, pulling out a key. She then looks back to Anna. "Just... follow me."

Anna follows her to a room that she had never been in before. The door had always been locked. Elsa puts the key in and turns. She then twists the knob and opens the door.

Anna walks into the space and sees that the walls are lined with shelves that are filled with model houses and churches and schools. There's even a train station, a factory, a prison, and what looks to be a mental asylum.

There's a Dutch Colonial Mansion and a several bedroom Tudor Castle.

In the center of the room there sits a table. The only things on top of the table are a box of tools, and a tube of glue. Elsa walks toward it and dumps the contents of the white box on to the surface, separating the pieces into groups.

Anna pulls a chair from the corner of the room towards the table and takes a seat, just watching.

Elsa gets to work building the house. She fits a window frame into a brick wall, and with a brush the size of one used for nail polish she glues it in. The window is the size of a fingernail and the glue smells like hairspray.

The pattern of the bricks on the wall is as fine as a finger print. Elsa continues to fit in window after window as silence reverberates through the room.

She then tucks her chin down against her chest, which is only covered by a bra, but somehow still perspiring, and she carefully tweezes a tiny pane of glass into each window.

Using a razor blade, she cuts little plastic curtains, smaller than a postage stamp. She has white ones for upstairs, and blue ones for downstairs. She leaves some curtains open and some drawn shut, gluing them down.

Next she glues the doors into the walls and she fits in tiny bits of each chimney, letting the glue dry as she starts to build the roof. She hangs the gutters, sets the tiny dormers, hangs the shutters, frames the porch, and plants the trees in the lawn.

Finally she glues the mailbox down next to the front door and the tiny tiny milk bottles down next to the tiny newspaper on the front porch.

After five hours, Elsa is pretty much done and Anna clears her throat, finally brave enough to break the silence. "That's beautiful, Elsa. What made you start doing this?"

The platinum blonde looks up, her breathing even, and her eyes back to normal. "I like to take the box in the bathroom, open it in the dark so I can't see how it's supposed to look. That way I'll never know for sure whether or not I did it right, so everything will just be perfect to me. It helps… making order out of chaos. Burying myself in work and just cobbling everything together."

Elsa closes her eyes and runs a hand through her hair, removing her bangs from her forehead. She then opens her eyes and looks to a clock on the wall behind Anna. "It's time to get ready for work."

Anna stands and walks to Elsa, wrapping her arms around her waist and pulling her into a gentle kiss. "Maybe," she starts, breaking the kiss, "-we should take the day off. I think you deserve that."

Elsa's eyes meet Anna's and for the first time that night -now day- she smiles. They both smile.

The moment isn't necessarily cute or sweet or anything Anna had thought their relationship would be. It is broken, unexpected, and -most importantly- perfect.

Perfect because, standing next to the beautiful house that Elsa just built, it's pretty obvious to both of them what a little hard work can do to a bunch of scattered pieces.

* * *

A/N: this is a little look into Elsa, it's pretty short, sorry

thanks for reading and reviewing


	17. Best Day

"What are we doing here? This is a really odd place to be spending my day off."

Anna and Elsa stop walking, pausing to take in their surroundings. From where they're standing a tight corridor of furniture stretches a few yards in every direction, each turning or branching into more corridors.

There are armoires squeezed side by side and sideboards wedged together. Anything short, sofas or tables, only lets them see to the next corridor of hutches or grandfather clocks or Georgian secretaries.

Anna grabs Elsa's hand, tenderly running her thumb over her knuckles. "I used to come to this place all the time as a kid. There's this one thing that's always been in here because no one is ever going to buy it."

"What is it?"

"It's like this super expensive antique wardrobe type thing." Anna pulls on Elsa's hand as she continues to walk the older woman through the corridors.

"When I was a kid we would come here and play hide and seek. I'd sneak off and climb inside of the wardrobe. It was like entering a new world for me. I felt like a kid in one of those Chronicles of Narnia books."

Elsa gives Anna a smile as she follows the excited younger woman. "Yeah? That sounds pretty cool, actually."

"Yeah," Anna nods, making a left turn by a group of wooden bookshelves. "I would imagine that I had a different life, or really cool things." She pauses and takes in a deep breath. "As I got older the meaning of this place sort of changed."

"How so?"

Anna stops, running her free hand through her hair. "I realized that all of these big and beautiful pieces of furniture once belonged to someone… to people who were rich and successful enough to prove it."

She releases Elsa's hand and begins to pace in a circle. "These antiques are like parasites surviving the hosts. There's probably no one in this world who could tell you who the first woman to look in that mirror was, because she's long gone. All of these people's talent and intelligence and beauty, outlived by decorative junk."

"That's morbid," Elsa whispers, her face twisting into a frown.

"I know," Anna agrees. "I realized I didn't want any of this… any of this stuff, or that life... and this place stopped being my sanctuary. I no longer wanted to come here." She sighs and looks to the floor. "It wasn't fun anymore."

Elsa walks forward and places a hand on Anna's shoulder. "Why are we here now? If this isn't a good place for you, why did you bring me here?"

Anna looks up into Elsa's eyes. "Because I realize now that I was less happy after that- when I stopped coming here. I think when we grow up… we don't start seeing reality, like we tell ourselves... we just lose sight of why some things made us happy in the first place."

Anna grabs Elsa's hand once more and starts to walk again. "I liked coming here to be with my friends, and to daydream and enjoy myself. I liked talking to the pictures and making up stories."

She turns a corner, picking up speed. "It had never been about owning any of this… I just made it about that. In short…," Anna says, stopping by a section of hanging rugs, "-we're here to play hide and seek. You hide first, I'll count."

"No, Anna. I don't think that's-"

Anna gives Elsa's hand a squeeze and presses a kiss to her lips, before she can finish her sentence. She then pulls back and looks the platinum blonde in the eyes. "Do you trust me?"

Elsa's eyes widen and she opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. She then shuts it and clears her throat, before attempting again. "Y-yes, of course I do. You know that."

Anna gives Elsa's hand another squeeze as she fixes the woman with a warm smile. "Just do this for me. Get out of your head... and go hide. You have to hide at least like, five or six corridors away. I'll count to fifty. This rug with the weird leaf pattern is base. If you make it back before I find you, you win that round."

"Anna…"

"Elsa. Go." Anna closes her eyes and covers them with her hands. "If you're not gone when I open my eyes there will be a price to pay. One, two, three..."

Anna makes it to fifty and opens her eyes. Much to her surprise, Elsa is actually gone. "Okay snowflake, which way did you go?" she whispers to herself, carefully looking up and down the corridor.

She walks to the end of the corridor and sees enameled screens and chandeliers off in the distance on her left, and large, hanging wooden doors on her right. _Elsa would probably hide behind a door, _she thinks, as she prepares to turn right.

_But she's smart and she knows I'd think that. _Anna turns left with a smile on her face as she heads toward the section with the screens.

She makes it there and quickly looks over which one Elsa could possibly be hiding behind. There is a screen that seems to only be a combination of multicolored tiles, going up eight or nine feet in a strictly rectangular form.

There is another screen that consists of two shorter side panels, and a tall middle panel. There seems to be biblical scenes depicted on it.

One screen in particular catches Anna's eye. It's blue and shaped like a mountain, plus it has feet that can be seen underneath it. Anna walks toward it, quietly, and peeks her head around the corner. "Gotcha!" she yells, causing Elsa's to jump back with a scream.

Elsa then walks out of the other side, her chest heaving from the encounter. "So what happens now?"

"Well, when you get tagged you have to count while the other person hides."

"Oh," Elsa nods. "So if I made it to base without getting tagged, I'd get to hide again?"

"Yep," Anna smiles. "You're a quick learner."

Elsa then turns and begins to sprint down the corridor. "You never tagged me!" she yells, through her laughter.

Anna takes in a deep breath before laughing to herself. She then begins to run in the direction that Elsa went. "You can't run from me, Elsa! This is my territory!" she yells, as she turns a corner and catches a glimpse of Elsa's platinum blonde braid, fleeing.

She picks up her speed and follows the older woman through two more corridors, before finally catching her half way through the third, nearly knocking her to the floor when they collide. "Told you that you couldn't run from me," Anna smiles, out of breath, as she wraps her arms around the older woman's waist.

Elsa giggles and drops her head, also out of breath from the impromptu exercise. "It was worth a shot. What can I say? I don't like to lose."

"Well," Anna starts, "-you should have run faster 'cause now you have to pay the price." She then moves her fingers to Elsa's sides and begins to expertly tickle the older woman. "Ever heard of the tickle monster?" she taunts.

Elsa bends over in loud, pure, unadulterated laughter as her cheeks start to burn a bright red. "Anna… please… I c-can't… breathe."

"What's that, Els? I don't know what you're saying. I can't hear you over your snorting."

Elsa grabs on to a shelf for support as she tries to pull away from Anna, to safety. "Please," she laughs, "-I think.. I've paid the price."

Anna finally stops tickling and pulls Elsa's back into her, pressing a kiss to the taller woman's ear. "Okay, fine. I guess I'll cut you some slack… this time."

"Thank you for being so generous," Elsa giggles, pulling from Anna's grip and turning to face the younger woman. She pauses and looks her in the eyes for a moment. "You make me so happy, Anna."

Anna looks down at the floor, blushing, as she shifts her weight from one leg to the other. "Thanks, Els. You make me happy too.

Anna looks back up and the joy in Elsa's eyes has been replaced by a burning intensity. Her breath catches and she swallows, trapped in the older woman's gaze. She then pulls at the collar of her shirt. "It's sort of warm in here, don'tcha think-"

Elsa quickly moves forward, her mouth colliding with Anna's in a heated, clumsy dance as they try to communicate their feelings through unguided sporadic touching.

Anna wraps her arm around Elsa's waist in an attempt to keep herself from falling as she is pushed back against the shelf behind her. She shoves her other hand under Elsa's shirt, resting her palm against the older woman's hot, damp skin.

All of her thoughts are replaced by the sweet sensation of Elsa's tongue exploring every inch of her mouth in a way that no one has ever done before.

Before she knows it, Elsa's tongue is gone and her head is being tilted back by a hand that had somehow, at some point, gotten entangled in her hair.

With her head tilted she gets a glimpse into Elsa's fiery impassioned eyes right before she feels a thigh being shoved between her legs. The much needed friction causes a wave of warmth to roll through her body as she closes her eyes and slightly opens her mouth, a small moan escaping.

She then feels Elsa's soft lips trailing kisses along her jaw line. The feeling is so ecstatic, so enrapturing- that she almost doesn't register the voice calling out to the two of them.

Anna and Elsa both stop and look to their side at the same time. There is a large, cheerful man standing at the end of the corridor. "Hoo hoo! Excuse me, ladies-

Anna turns to Elsa, her eyes wide. "Run!"

Elsa loses all color in her face as she stares down at Anna, confused. "W-what?"

"Just run," Anna says as she slips her body from Elsa's and grabs onto the platinum blonde's now shaking hand. She then pulls her along as she begins to pick up speed. "Run, Elsa! Don't let him catch us."

Elsa's breathing increases as she fumbles along behind Anna. "What are we doing, Anna? What's happening?"

"We're getting away," Anna laughs. She then stops, suddenly, causing Elsa to run into her. "Here it is, Els. The wardrobe where I used to hide. It's in the same place it's always been."

Anna opens the door and shoves Elsa inside. Climbing in behind her as she shuts the doors. "Anna we can't do this," Elsa says, shakily. "He's coming-"

"Shhh," Anna says, putting a finger up to her lips. "If you talk he'll hear us, and then he'll catch us," she whispers.

"Why did we run?" Elsa whispers, "-he's going to think we were up to-"

The doors open and Elsa's eyes widen. "Excuse me ladies, you can't be inside of here. I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the large man chirps.

Elsa's face goes so pale that she almost looks like a ghost. Anna tries to stifle her laughter. "S-sorry…," Elsa stutters, "I uhhh, I just wanted to buy this."

The large male smirks as he raises a brow in Elsa's direction. "You want to buy this? This has been sitting in my store for the past twenty years."

"I know… my girl- uhhh, friend said she used to like this as a kid, and I just wanted to get it for her."

The large man looks to Anna and furrows his brow deeper, bending down to get a better look. "Anna… little Anna, is that you?" he asks.

Anna blushes and smiles as she looks down at her feet. "Uhm, yes Mr. Oaken," she whispers.

He lets out a small chuckle as he rubs his large belly. "Still up to no good, I see. I should have known." He then looks to Elsa, his face more serious. "It'll be hard letting this go, but if it's going to little Anna I know it'll be in good hands."

Elsa nods vigorously, her eyes wide. "Yeah, I can just pay today, and then send to get it picked up."

Oaken gives her a smile before turning back to Anna. "I'll be up front when you're ready." He pulls Anna into a hug. "It's nice to see you, Anna."

"Nice to see you too," she smiles as he pulls away. Oaken then begins to walk away from the corridor and Anna turns to Elsa. "You didn't have to buy this."

Elsa lets out a huge breath as color begins to return to her face. "I panicked. I didn't know what to do. Why'd you tell me to run if you knew him?"

Anna laughs as she pulls Elsa into a hug. "I just wanted you to have some fun, let loose." She lifts her head to look Elsa in the eyes, her voice taking on a more serious tone. "Your life is so stressful, and I can tell it's starting to get to you."

"Well… that was one way to take my mind off of things. It was exciting, and refreshing, and scary. I felt like a kid… or I imagine that's what feeling like a kid feels like."

"Yeah," Anna nods, "-something like that. What do you say we get some ice cream after you're done forking over the moolah for this large unwanted item?" She laughs, shaking her head. "You don't really have to buy this thing, Els."

* * *

"I told you that you didn't have to buy it," Anna states, licking the dripping ice cream from her knuckles.

Elsa licks the remnants of ice cream from her spoon before dipping it in her bowl again. "I promised the man a sale, so I was going to stick to my word. It's about integrity."

"He bullied you into buying it. There's no integrity in that."

"He did not," Elsa giggles. "Can you control your cone? I told you to get a bowl. If you got a bowl it wouldn't be dripping everywhere."

"If you eat your ice cream out of a bowl, you're not living life right," Anna jokes.

"Yeah, but you're getting it all over the table and someone has to clean that up."

Anna takes in a deep breath before leaning her head down. "I'll just lick it up, Els. That solve the problem?"

Elsa's eyes widen as she quickly moves her hand holding the spoon toward Anna, flinging ice cream everywhere. "Crap, Anna. Don't do that."

Anna starts to laugh, staring at the flustered Elsa. "Look who's making the mess now, Els. Someone has to clean that up, you know?"

"Very funny, Anna," Elsa smirks. "You know," she adds, grabbing a napkin, "-this is probably like... the best day of my life."

Anna takes another lick of her ice cream before smiling. "Every day that I'm with you is like the best day of my life. I think I win."

Elsa presses her lips into a line, tilting her head. "This wasn't a competition."

"Everything is a competition. You're just saying it wasn't because you lost."

Elsa releases a sigh. "You're a dork," she whispers.

"Did you just call me a dork?" Anna asks, with a small laugh. She then pauses a moment, giving Elsa a reassuring smile. "Competition or not, I really meant what I said."

Elsa blushes and looks down into her bowl of ice cream. "I think I want to get this on a cone."


	18. Cracked

"I'm guessing you've never been much of a distance runner."

Anna looks up to Kristoff from under her bangs as she bends forward, placing her hands on her thighs. "No," she breathes, her face flushed. "This is a lot harder than you made it seem."

Kristoff lets out a laugh as he pats her on the back. "I just asked if you were up for running with me weekend mornings. You're the one who said yes."

"Honestly," Anna says, desperately gulping for air, "-I was just being nice so you would stop being weird around me." Anna sinks to the ground, crossing her legs indian-style and dropping her head.

Kristoff bends forward, stretching his legs. "I'm sorry about my behavior, Anna… but I hope you keep training with me. It's so hard to motivate yourself to get up in the morning, you know? I want to do well in the triathlon and it's easier if I have a training partner."

"Don't you have any other friends?"

"I have my dog," Kristoff laughs, "-and he wants to be up running in the morning even less than I do."

There is a brief moment of silence between them as Anna massages her thighs with her hands. "Fine," she says, finally. "But you have to buy me breakfast, because weekends are supposed to be my time away from my boss, but-"

"Instead you decided to date her?"

Anna looks up at Kristoff, rolling her eyes. "Will you _please _let it go. I don't even consider her the boss… like, I mean, I know she is- but she's so far removed from me. Honestly, I'm like the lowest-ranking life-form in the company. My job doesn't even concern her… and our relationship shouldn't concern you."

"Fine," Kristoff says, firmly. "Look, there's this celebratory party- dinner type thing happening-"

"Kristoff," Anna interrupts, "-we've been over this, I-"

Kristoff holds up a hand, stopping Anna. "Jesus, I'm not asking you out again. I have _some _pride. It's in celebration of getting the account, and I figured since you put in a lot of work, that you should definitely be there. Elsa is invited too. She never comes to these things, though. Maybe you can change that."

Anna nods, thinking what he said over. "Why would you want me to bring her?"

Kristoff shrugs. "She has a pretty bad rep, you know? I called her a bitch, and I've shared maybe five words with her. I figured that's gotta hurt a little- having people dislike you when they don't know you. If she spent more time with the employees, maybe we'd start to see what _you_ see in her."

"Maybe," Anna agrees, "-but it's hard getting her to go to these things, so if things start to go south… you have to agree to have our back. I mean, this _is_ your idea… and this better not be some Carrie type thing where she walks in and pig blood gets dumped on her. Believe me, if that happens she won't even need to unleash any powers, because I'll get to everyone before she gets the chance to."

"You really care about her don't you?" Kristoff asks.

Anna nods. "Yeah… a lot, so I'd appreciate it if you did me a solid here. I don't know how many company people know about us, so if you were cool with it… maybe you could set the tone for everyone else. I don't need Elsa getting anymore shit than she already does… especially not because of me."

"I guess I at least owe you that. I wasn't trying to be some crazy Fedora trooper crying about why nice guys finish last. Maybe it came out that way… but I was kinda, less than excited about you and Elsa."

"It's okay," Anna states, "-we're not perfect beings, but you're at least owning up to it, and being genuine. That's the only thing anyone can ever ask for."

Kristoff smiles as he extends a hand to Anna. "Alright, bud. Lets go get you some breakfast."

— — —

Anna bends down to rub her sore hamstrings from her early morning run with Kristoff, as Elsa rambles on about something, not making any sense.

Elsa continues to pace in front of her large wooden desk in her spacious home office. She runs a frustrated hand through her already frazzled hair. "You don't understand, Anna."

Anna takes in a deep breath, wrapping the fingers of one hand around the index finger of the other, tugging at it mindlessly. "You're right. I don't understand. I'm confused. You called me over saying you needed me, and when I asked what was wrong, you said you didn't know. Why won't you tell me what's going on?"

"Because it doesn't matter."

There is a short pause before Anna responds. "I'm really confused."

Elsa stops pacing and turns to Anna. "You said that already."

Anna shrugs. "Well, I meant it." Elsa starts to pace again and Anna lets out a deep sigh. "I don't know what to say to you. I'm trying to help, but you're refusing to let me."

Elsa stops pacing again, looking to Anna apprehensively. She clears her throat and tugs at the sleeves of her shirt. "You're not going to leave, are you?"

"No," Anna says, shaking her head. "You know I'm here for you. I just don't understand why you're feeling so uneasy… or why you won't tell me. Do you not know? Is it about your meeting tonight? Maybe that's it."

Elsa walks behind her desk and opens a drawer. She fishes around for a moment before pulling out a small gold tube. She then walks back around to the front of her desk. "You're right," she says, softly. "Pre-something jitters, I guess."

Anna nods, happy that she is finally getting _somewhere _with Elsa tonight. "That's normal, I think."

Elsa twists the gold tube until a deep pink lipstick grows out. "Not usually," she whispers, "Not for me."

Anna takes a step forward, bridging the physical gap between them. "You have a lot going on, Elsa. Trust me, what you're feeling is perfectly normal for _anyone_."

Elsa stretches her lips up and down and touches the lipstick to the pink lipstick already there.

Anna takes another step closer. "I mean that, Elsa. Maybe it's not what you want to hear, or maybe you think you're different- but the truth is, we all get nervous sometimes."

Her shoulders squared straight across, Elsa rolls her lips together. They come apart slow, stuck together for the last moment. She then looks down. "No," she says quietly, "I think I'm just wearing the wrong shirt. I knew I shouldn't have gone with this one. I need to change."

Anna rolls her eyes. "Okay, well on second thought, maybe I _should_ just go back home. You seem to have things all figured out already, and I won't be needed here."

Elsa twists her lipstick down. She then places it down on the desk before looking up to Anna. "Sorry, Anna. I'm just… off today."

"Okay," Anna says, nodding her head, "-why do you think that is?" She takes a slow breath. _Deep breathing_, she coaches herself, trying to keep her composure.

Elsa places her hand on top of the desk and starts to pace again, but slow, dragging her hand across the metal surface. "Maybe I'm just afraid that I won't… measure up."

"Measure up to what…? There isn't much you _don't _measure up to." Anna furrows her brow and shakes her head. "Wait, aren't these guys just trying to impress you?"

"It's complicated," Elsa states, walking past the edge of her desk and letting her hand slip from the surface. She walks toward a bookshelf in the corner of her office. "It's… I'm just not in the right headspace for a meeting tonight."

Elsa runs her hand along the spines of the books, pretending to be interested. Anna sighs. "You're nervous… and that's okay. If there is a particular reason that you're not in the right headspace… if something is going on, just tell me. My only interest is helping you, Els. You can talk to me about anything."

Elsa's hand stops and she pulls it back to herself, turning around. "I'm sorry, Anna… I just-" She runs her hand through her hair. "I think... maybe I'm just overreacting. I don't know."

Anna sighs again, deeply. She doesn't have enough energy to have this conversation with Elsa. She runs a hand through her hair, gripping it in frustration. "I hate that you do this," she finally says, calmly.

"That I do what?"

Anna pulls her shoulders up and takes in a breathe before releasing it and dropping her shoulders. "You shut down. I never know what you're thinking, so when I try to comfort you it's pretty much just me feeling around in the dark until I find the right spot. It's sort of draining."

"Draining?"

"Yes," Anna sighs. "I'm sure you know what that means. When you're feeling good you open up to me, and you tell me I make you happy and that you like being with me… but I don't want to _just _know Elsa when she's happy. I want to know Elsa when she's angry, and Elsa when she's scared, and Elsa when she's nervous. I want to know _you. _All of you. So, please just tell me what's really going on."

Elsa shakes her head, slightly opening her mouth as she shrugs. "I don't know what you're talking about, Anna. I'm completely open with you… and I told you- maybe I'm just overreacting."

Anna closes her eyes, bringing a hand up to massage her temples. She then opens her eyes and runs her hand through her hair again. "That was the wrong answer. You could have told me what was going on. You could have told me you didn't want to talk about it right now. You could have told me you didn't know _how_ to talk about it… but telling me you don't _know _what I'm talking about… trying to make me seem crazy- _that _was the wrong answer."

Elsa walks toward Anna, but Anna takes a step back. Elsa stops. "I'm not trying to make you seem-"

"I can't-" Anna interrupts, "I can't put a hundred and fifty percent into this relationship to make up for the fact that you're only putting in fifty. We both need to put in one hundred. Do you understand that?" Anna's legs start to ache and she looks around, wishing she could take a seat.

"What does one hundred percent look like to you, Anna- because I'm trying here. I really am."

"Yeah," Anna says, with a sigh. "You're trying just enough to keep me around, but it's not enough if we really want to work. I know we've been taking things really slow… but _this_ is exactly why. If you can't talk to me, then we can't really go that far. You have to try."

Elsa drops her head, turning away from Anna. "I don't understand where you got that impression, that I'm not trying. I'm working really hard for this relationship. I just have to do it in my own way, and I think you should let me be and respect that. You didn't use to pry this much."

"You want me to just let you be? You want me to stop asking questions? That's not a relationship. What you're looking for is not a relationship." Anna clenches her jaw in slight anger. "This is frustrating. You call me to help you, then you refuse to let me. Maybe I should leave, since I'm apparently useless here."

"I thought running away wasn't your thing."

"Well," Anna starts, sighing, "-maybe I learned a thing or two from my relationship with Hans." The moment the words leave her lips she wishes she could take them back.

Elsa's body stills for a moment. She then slowly turns, looking to Anna, her eyes welling with tears.

Anna holds up a hand and her face softens. "Okay, maybe I didn't mean _that. _But I really… I just don't understand."

Elsa walks forward, tentatively. When Anna doesn't step back she continues, grabbing the younger woman's hand and leading her out of the office.

She takes Anna back to the room where she took her the night that she had the nightmare. She then reaches out and twists the knob. The door isn't locked this time.

When it opens Anna's heart sinks to a depth that she didn't know was possible.

There are colorful pieces scattered everywhere, and every single house or building has been cracked in, thrown about, or just completely smashed to indiscernible parts.

Anna opens her mouth to speak, but she doesn't know where to begin. She doesn't completely understand why, but she knows this room and those model buildings and houses were very important to Elsa.

Elsa looks down at her hands as she starts twisting them together. "I wasn't even going to tell you about it." She stops and takes in a breath. "I scheduled a dinner with my parents. I haven't spoken to them in years. I was just going to meet with them… and hope that facing them would make me better. I want to be better… for you… for me too."

Elsa clears her throat as a tear drops from her eye. She wipes it away. "So, I called them and set up dinner. They came to town for it and everything."

She sniffs before turning and walking toward a broken off chimney on the floor. She picks it up, twisting it in her hands. "I thought I'd go and… I'm not sure what I expected. My father said he was disappointed in me and I just… everything in me kind of broke. I don't know why he still has that effect on me."

Anna's face twists in confusion. She isn't sure how, or why Elsa's Father would be disappointed in her. "Disappointed? Wha-… how? Why would he be disappointed in you? What does he want from you?" Her voice is frantic, her mind desperately searching for an answer that connects these seemingly unconnectable dots.

"He'd really like it if I was a boy…," Elsa starts, "-but he would settle for me marrying a wealthy man, not working, and having kids like a good wife. Like my Mother. I'm supposed to know my place… be the perfect woman."

"Well, that's his loss. He has the most amazing daughter on the planet and he can't open his eyes wide enough to see it."

"That doesn't matter," Elsa whispers as another tear falls. "There's always going to be a little part of me that's seeking his approval… and I'm never going to get it. I did all of this… got to where I am now, and it doesn't even matter to him. He doesn't even notice. It's not even a factor."

Elsa grits her teeth together as she slings the chimney across the room. More tears fall from her eyes, and Anna can't figure out what to say to the older woman.

Elsa turns toward Anna, her face pale, and her eyes filled with so much pain that it's almost palpable. "I was hoping you could make me feel better, without me having to tell you. You always make me feel better. I wanted you to tell me that I'm not a disappointment, but I just ended up disappointing you as well. I ended up reminding you of Hans. I can't do _anything_ right."

"You don't remind me of Hans. I shouldn't have said that."

"But you did say it," Elsa cries. "You said it and you meant it."

"No," Anna says, shaking her, finding it hard to keep her own tears from falling. "I meant that it's hard… I just, I keep trying to find ways to make you happy. And every time I do, something else comes in with a wrecking ball and knocks everything down. I'm not trying to fix you, because I don't think you're broken… but it's really hard getting you to see that. I guess it's just me that can't do anything right," she shrugs.

Elsa sniffs again, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "That's ridiculous, Anna."

"No, you're ridiculous!" Anna yells, a tear falling from her eyes. "You're like the most successful person in the universe and you have this woman standing in front of you who's completely in love with you, and you can only talk about how you can't do anything right. Obviously, you're doing _something_ right. Maybe your Father is blind to what's in front of him, but you don't have to be, Elsa."

Elsa's eyes widen and she stands rooted to her spot in silence. All pervasive, unbearable, never-ending, deafening, debilitating silence.

Anna isn't even sure if the older woman is breathing anymore.

Elsa's lips then curl into a wide smile, and her eyes light up as another tear falls. She sniffs and wipes her nose with her sleeve again. "I'm crying in the middle of a room full of broken toys about my Father issues, and now is when you tell me you love me?"

Elsa lets out a small laugh before sniffing loudly. "I love you so much that it hurts, Anna. I love you so much that I hate saying that I love you, because love isn't a powerful enough word for how I feel about you."

Elsa takes the hand of the arm she keeps wiping her nose with and runs it trough her bangs. "The fact that you picked one of the worst moments of my life to tell me you love me… I just, I want to make you happy. I want to make you so happy that you forget what being sad feels like."

Anna wipes her eyes. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Elsa nods, "I don't want to be like my Father." She looks down. "He was proud of me… kind of. He said I proved that I could survive on my own. Then I told him I was in love with you. He said that I should leave you and come home... end this nonsense. I told him you make me really happy and that you're always there for me. He called me a disappointment. Said I was a disgrace. My Mother remained silent."

"I'm sorry," Anna whispers.

"No," Elsa says, shaking her head as she looks up. "I chose you. I got up and told him I'd rather be with you than have him in my life, any day. I wanted to do this graceful exit where I walked out and forgot him, but I couldn't. His words still hurt me." Elsa looks away as a tear falls. "I feel so ashamed. What does that say about me? That I want the approval of this fucked up, abusive man."

"It says you're like any other kid in the world who wants the approval of her parents. I know a parent is the last thing we ever want to let go… trust me, I know. But sometimes it needs to happen. There's only so much you can do."

"I have to go to the meeting," Elsa whispers, more as a fact, than a way of ending the conversation.

Anna nods, taking in a breath and releasing it. "I know. I'll still be here when you get back. You're not a disappointment, Els."

* * *

A/N: more elsaaaa

mengsk- the house thing was a little of both. i was considering something along the line of puzzles, then i was reading something about a person putting together a model house, and then boom- inspiration


	19. Scattered

**A/N: i have a bunch of tests and stuff coming up these next couple of weeks, so be patient with me. thanks for the reviews and such, i appreciate all the feedback**

* * *

Anna places the box of trash bags on the table in the center of the room, then she slowly looks around and takes in the… _mess? _It feels wrong calling it that. It feels disrespectful. These clusters of broken pieces once held a lot of meaning to Elsa and, chances are, they still do. But probably in a different way now. Elsa would probably have trouble looking at these pieces and finding the same solace that she used to find in them… but it would be silly to think that she could look at them now and not feel _anything_. She'd definitely feel something.

Cleaning.

It's a powerful coping mechanism, one that almost everyone uses. When a relationship ends, someone's stuff gets cleaned out, packed into a box and shipped away. It's supposed to make it easier. Messes get cleaned up, murders get cleaned up, even computer hard drives get cleaned up.

It's supposed to be a good thing. It's supposed to give people a sort of peace of mind. As Anna slowly places more broken pieces into her trash bag, as the floor of the room becomes clearer and clearer, she notices something.

This room doesn't feel clean.

It feels empty; and there is a _very_ big difference between clean and empty. There is a difference between feeling clean about something, being rid of it, and just feeling empty and void of everything.

And as much as Anna tries to tell herself that Elsa is going to be okay, she can't help but think that, right now, all the older woman is feeling is empty. There may be a void inside of Elsa that Anna can't fill, one she doesn't even know how to fill. She doesn't know how to make Elsa feel less empty. She can't take away what Elsa's father said or did. She can't do anything.

She can't even make this _room_ feel less empty.

She's knows that she's _supposed_ to know that she shouldn't put all of this weight on her shoulders, but for some reason she can't help but blame herself for everything that's happening in Elsa's life right now. In a way it had been her pushing Elsa to change, forcing herself into the older woman's life. She wanted the best for the both of them, but she can't seem to find the silver lining in this situation.

She didn't know where the pain and the hurting was supposed to end, the part where it gets better. Simply and unequivocally, she thought, her attempts at making everything better had backfired. She had, in fact, only succeeded in making things worse.

She can't do this alone. She can't handle this alone. She needs someone here right now. She needs to call the only person she can think of that might be able to lighten the mood in this space.

Anna takes out her phone and dials a number before pressing it to her ear. It gets picked up after the first ring. "Anna this better be important, Im like about to-"

"Beth," Anna interrupts, "-I need you."

There is silence between the two, Bethany is, no doubt, considering the implication of the three words Anna had just spoken. After a few seconds tick away, she calmly responds. "Where are you, Anna? What's happening?"

"I'm at Elsa's house," Anna squeaks, trying her best not to be reduced to tears. "I need help and I didn't know who else to call. Elsa's upset, and nothing is okay… and I can't handle this alone."

"Where is Elsa right now?"

"She left."

"Because of you?"

"No."

"Okay," Bethany breathes. "I'll be right over, Anna. Everything is going to be okay, I promise. You need me to stay on the phone?"

"No, it's okay," Anna whispers. "I'll just see you when you get here." She then hangs up the phone as she sinks to the floor, putting her face in her hands. She runs her hands over her eyes and tries to stay as calm as possible.

It could, quite possibly, just be that she is making too big of a deal out of everything. If she was even one step more removed from the situation, then maybe she'd be able to see more clearly, but right now things just all seemed to be piling up in her face.

_How could he say that?_

The one thought that keeps replaying in her mind is slowly starting to eat away at her. Each time she thinks about the conversation that Elsa described with her father, she understands it a little less. She doesn't get how someone could be that hostile toward their own daughter, a daughter that any other parent in this world would be proud of.

Anna just doesn't understand.

— — —

"What the hell happened in this room, Anna?"

Bethany drops her bag to the floor as she surveys the room, before looking to Anna incredulously. Anna shrugs and runs a hand through her hair. "I guess... Elsa happened."

"Oh," Bethany nods. "So, did you two have a crazy fight or just really kinky sex?"

Anna rolls her eyes, but finds herself fighting to conceal a smile that's pressing against the back of her lips, despite her dejected mood. "You're incorrigible, Bethany."

"But, that's why you love me. So, am I allowed to ask, or should I just keep my mouth shut?"

Anna takes in a deep breath and decides that telling Bethany about what happened might not be the worst option. She doesn't really know what else to do. Maybe she shouldn't go into detail, but she can at least tell her the gist of it. "Elsa is having some… _family _problems."

"Ah," Bethany laughs. She then walks toward the table in the center of the room and grabs a trash bag from the box. "Say no more. Sometimes my family makes me want to claw my own eyes out. If I was a billionaire I'd probably smash shit to pieces without a care as well."

"I think there was caring involved here. A lot of caring, in fact."

Bethany gives Anna an understanding nod before crouching down to pick up some broken pieces from the floor. "Is she going to be okay?"

"For now," Anna assures, joining Bethany in cleaning up. "She's at a meeting, so she's probably holding it together. She's good at her job." Anna pauses as she takes a deep breath and releases it. "I don't know what she's going to be like once she gets back. Her mental state was questionable when she left."

"What does questionable mean?"

Anna picks up a piece of a roof, twisting it in her hands as she considers the question. She then sits down on the floor, in the midst of the broken houses. "She said she loves me," she finally whispers after a moment.

Bethany nods as she joins Anna on the floor. She places a hand over the strawberry-blonde's, taking the piece of the roof from her. "I don't see why that makes her mental state questionable, Anna. You're a very _very _lovable person."

Anna nods, sucking in another breath. "I know that, Beth." She looks into Bethany's eyes to reassure the brunette. "I _know _that."

She _does _know that, somewhere in the back of her mind. She knows that it's possible for Elsa to love her. That part isn't what bothered her. What bothered her was how Elsa had said it. How… _unstable_ Elsa seemed. Anna blinks the thought away and decides not to bring it up.

"Well, good," Bethany chimes, giving Anna a smile. "So, now that you're done sulking, what are you going to do for Elsa? If she's hurting then you need to be there."

"That's why I called you. I don't know what to do anymore, Beth. I don't know what to say to her."

Bethany leans forward, picking up more broken pieces. "Okay, Plan A is me, and I don't know anything about Elsa, to be quite honest, so that might not work. What's plan B?"

"Bethany…"

"Look, Anna. I'm just say-"

Anna rolls her eyes, releasing a deep sigh. "Plan A is we need another pair of eyes… another set of ears to maybe help us out. And I don't approve of paying ten thousand dollars a minute to a therapist just so they can get us to state the obvious." Anna pauses and lets out a slight smile in Bethany's direction, giving the brunette's shoulder a small nudge. "And if you fail us, then I'm not so sure that I can refer to you as my resident love expert anymore."

"_Okay,_" Bethany acquiesces, "-but that's a hell of a lot of pressure and I don't do well with crying people. So, my presence will probably just be useless."

"Don't leave. If all else fails, Elsa and I can bond over blaming you," Anna says, tilting her head in a mockingly loving way. "Besides, I needed you here to stop me from going crazy. It's getting easier to admit that sometimes I need help."

"Wittle Anna growing up, eh?"

Anna rolls her eyes again, throwing a piece of plastic at Bethany. "You ruin every moment, you know that? "

"I'm sorry," Bethany pouts. "How long is she normally gone?"

Anna shrugs. "She can be out pretty late, I guess. The later she stays out, the more likely she won't be in a good mood when she gets back. It depends on what-"

"Jesus, you're like a housewife," Bethany interrupts, laughing. "Make sure her pillow is fluffed and her bath is ready, while you're at it. Is she going to pay me for the effort I'm putting in, huh?"

"No... I hope she doesn't," Anna retorts.

Bethany smirks, tilting her head. "I know Elsa's secretary. I can just show a little cleavage and charm my way into being able to switch her schedule around. Don't mess with me, Anna."

"That wouldn't be very nice of you," comes a soft voice from the entrance of the room.

Both Anna and Bethany freeze at the intrusion, before turning to find Elsa standing in the doorway. Bethany then looks between Anna and Elsa, wide-eyed. She finally settles on the platinum blonde. "_That _was a joke, Ms. Snow," she confesses, her voice an octave higher than normal.

Anna hadn't expected Elsa to show up. Honestly, she wasn't ready to confront the older woman. She was still trying to get her own feelings in order and had been counting on the few hours she had without Elsa to do so. She quickly stands from her spot, pulling the trash bag up with her. "Els, I didn't know you'd be home so soon-"

"I didn't go," Elsa whispers. "I couldn't do it. I started to make my way there. I _made_ it there… but then I turned around. Decided to come back. I'm just not in the right… _anything _for a meeting tonight." She sighs as she walks toward the table in the center of the room. When she reaches it, she runs her hand over the box of trash bags. "Are we cleaning up my mess? I can help."

"No. No, no, no," Anna insists, "-you don't need to do anything. Beth… Beth and I can handle this. You should get some rest. I can just join you when we're done."

Anna isn't exactly sure why she's pleading for Elsa to leave. She doesn't know if it's for her own benefit, or for the older woman's.

"No," Elsa breathes. "I don't want to rest, Anna. I just… I need to be doing something constructive. So, if you don't mind, I think I'll help you two clean."

Anna wants to protest again, but she doesn't have the energy for it. She feels defeated, but she figures she'll give it one final effort. "Okay, Els… You sure you're okay with this? I mean is it too hard being in this room? I know you've been going through-"

"Look, Anna," Elsa interrupts, turning toward Anna. She then stops speaking, staring into the younger woman's eyes. She stands there in silence for what feels like an eternity, before turning back around and grabbing a bag. She then walks to the other side of the table and begins to pick up some of the scattered pieces.

Anna releases a breath, looking down to Bethany, hoping she can find the answer in her friends eyes. She doesn't find what she's looking for, so she looks away and everyone silently assumes their roles of cleaning up the pieces in the room.

_It really happened, _Anna thinks, _I really messed up this time._

She had knocked down the pillars holding up Elsa's world, and had no idea how to replace them.


End file.
